Young Clergy

THis week Religion and News Weekly will run a feature on the drop and loss of young clergy. I think the problem stems from a drop in college campus ministry by mainline congregations, no foolin'. I "heard" the call to ministry around my junior year of high school, but I know many who "heard" the call in college. I think an investment in youth ministry and campus ministry just may change things. I also think that northern mainline seminaries should actively recruit from the bible belt.

The church for me has been nothing but a blessing. A large ABC church in a subburb of Charleston took me in and made me one of their own. The church helped me out in college, seminary and licensed me. They wouldn't ordain me, but I don't blame 'em. The church in Athens gave me nothing but good feelings and now the church in Lincoln has done nothing but treat me right.

I think the life of the clergy is worth pursuing, you can actually make a difference in people's lives, you just have to some patience and a willingness to love.


Here is the front from R&NW:
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Feature: Young Clergy Shortage
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Only about five percent of mainline Protestant pastors are under the
age of 35 -- a dramatic drop from 20 years ago. And less than half of
the students graduating from seminaries actually choose work in parish
ministry. Instead, they pursue careers in social services, chaplaincy or
teaching. Why are young people shying away from this vocation and how
are Protestant denominations addressing the need for youth in the
pulpit? Judy Valente looks at the reasons for the declining numbers of
young clergy across mainline Protestant denominations and what church
leaders are doing to reverse this trend.
According to Maxine Beach, dean of Drew University School of Theology,
"A lot of young 20-year-olds really believe that they can make more of
a difference someplace else -- that churches have become comfortable,
they've become places interested in their own survival. And a lot of 20
to 25-year-olds, 30-year-old people, do not want to buy into that
dynamic. They want a place where they believe that Jesus can be real and
new."

Friendship

Since my father's diagnosis and treatments I realized the importance of friendship. I cant imagine my father going through his ordeal without the gang from the hardware; they call all the time, they mow the grass, volunteered to drive dad to treatments and even helped me out finacially!

This Sunday the OT lectionary text comes from 2 Samuel, the story when David learns of Jonathan's death. Many have said that David and Jonathan had a relation more than just friends, maybe they did - maybe they didnt, I have no idea. My hunch is that they didnt. I have known a friendship like they did. But I could be wrong.

A classmate at BTSR, Nathan Solomon, now a doctoral student at Union-PSCE in Richmond, VA, wrote this reflection of his time as a Navy Chaplain in Iraq. Check it out, he brings a great angle.

Perfect Rainy Day Treat

Just a moment ago I finished a delicious Oat Scone with Devon Clotted Cream and homemade Blackberry Jelly with a cup of Earl Grey Tea.

Here is the recipe for the scone:
.75 cup of oat flour (if you dont have any stick your oats in the food processor and give 'em a whirl)
1.25 cups of regular flour
3 tsps. of baking powder, clabber girl
1tsp of salt
3 tbsps of brown sugar
.25 cup of butter
.50 or more cup of buttermilk
1 egg beaten

mix dry ingredients and cut in butter (I just put some flour and butter in the food processor and have at it). mix buttermilk and egg and mix it in the flous (remember wet into dry). roll into oval looking shape till it is .75 inches high. Cut in triangles, place on baking stone and bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes. I like to add some sugar in a little buttermilk for a splash on top and finish under the broiler till browned.

I found this recipe from Our Daily Bread by Stella Standard. I bought it at book sale a few years ago, great recipe.

Royal Mail vs. USPS

Last week I put in an order for a Book of Common Order published by St. Andrews Press on behalf of the Panel on Worship of the Church of Scotland.
I ordered it on the 20th and received it yesterday on the 27th. That is quite a remarkable delivery turnaround; a package from Edinburgh arrives in Lincoln, RI in 5 days business days. Could the USPS do that? I dunno. Now dont get me wrong I love the USPS; think about it for 39 cents I can send a letter to anywhere in the US and it will get there in about 5 days, that is pretty remarkable.

In my own search for greater worship resources I ordered the book of common order. I think us liturgically minded baptists need to produce our own worship book. There is a great worship book by John Skoglund and Nancy Hall but I think it relies too much on Reformed models and not enough on the English Free Churches and Celtic traditions.

WV via RI

Our move almost four years ago from WV to RI located us in what seemed a world away from Appalachia. But there are surprisingly similarities between Swamp Yankees and Hillbillies. They both seem to have a knack for thrift, they are primarily Protestant (S.Y. from primarily English stock) and they both seem to be related to nearly everyone in the village. Last night I learned of a connection that isnt too kind.

If you have ever toured, walked or snooped around the Mansions in Newport you may be familiar with the Elms, a spectacular French chateau. It was built by Edward Berwind a coal baron of the early part of the 20th century who owned mines in WV and Penn.

What a contrast it is to sit on the steps at Elms looking at the Newport beaches and the Atlantic Ocean when compared to the poverty of the Appalachian coalfields. There are no Berwind colleges, hospitals, parks, but there is a great mansion in Newport.

You may never know or see the link when you turn on your computer, flip the light switch or lavish the cool air from the AC but there is one whether you live in RI or WV, unfortunately coal is feuling our desire for electricity. I thought that RI was okay, electricity from natural gas, but the Elms says otherwise.

*thanks to Jeff Goodell and his book Big Coal for this link.

This, That and some more of those

In 2004 I was turned onto the John Edwards campaign. I voted for him in the primary and in the general election as the vp candidate. When you look at his life there isnt much to ohh and ahh over, but there is an authenticity of his talk on poverty that strikes me as genuine. What other politician is using poverty, specifically the eradication of it in America as a major part of their persona and campaign? I hope he keeps it it, he hit a nerve that I believe many will respect.

This morning in the Boston Globe there appears an interesting article about an interfaith group challenging Archbishop O'Malley and the Catholic voice in Mass. This brings up an interesting point for me here in RI. The Catholic voice is so strong and so loud here in New England it seems like Protestants, especially left-leaning, Roger Williamsy Protestants, get left out in the cold (abandoned to the other side of the Seekonk).

Hard core politics. It seems an aide for Gov. Carceri and a RI house Leader got into at Smith's Pub yesterday. My kinda politics. America needs more politicians, lobbyists and others getting it on in pubs.

I placed an order for the Book of Common Worship by the Church of Scotland the other day. I received this sentence in their email the other day: "This email is confirmation that your order has now completed and all items have been dispatched to you." Amazon and the rest dont dispatch items, you gotta like the Scots for their use of the English language.

The New Normal

My father completed his three strong "up-front" radiation treatments, to enable him to breath, yesterday. Today he begins his regimen of chemotherapy treatments. Never in a million years did I suspect my dad at 63 would have cancer. Never did I suspect I would have to learn the new vocabulary of cancer, words like pathology, tumors, nonsmallcell lung cancer, radiologists, oncologists, thoracic surgeons, enlarged blood vessels, etc. I knew these words, but not in an intimate way; before they were words other people knew I only overheard them and used them secondarily.

Several months ago a friend who is in Baton Rouge attended a conference for those who were providing care during Katrina. He mentioned the phrase "new normal." That phrase keeps ringing in my head. Your mind plays tricks with you by tricking you into believing all is back to the old normal: dad is healthy, he doesnt have cancer, nothing has changed; then you talk on the phone, have a fit of tears, and read about lung cancer then you realize life is now the new normal. And the new normal sucks!

Pop, I hope the chemo treatment goes well, agrees with your bodies and kills a ton of fast growing cancer cells today. Rest well afterwards my good man, livestrong.

Target of Prankster

The church I serve used to have a yearly tradition of staging a grand auction. It was a great success but after a while folk lost interest and the energy to keep it up, therefore, they started holding a grand Yard/Bake/Plant Sale. I love these events, you raise a lot of money selling junk and you get to meet people along the way (I believe they are swell evangelistic events - by that I mean folk get a good feel for the people and makeup of the congregation in a non-threatening way).

Since I have arrived there have been several interesting items.

Year One: A Women's Red Leather Lingere Outfit. (Sold quickly)

Year Two: In the midst of the books on the book table there were several issues of Playb*y and a bottle of aphrodisiac oil/lotion.

Year Three: in the midst of the videos, you'd guessed it, several adult vide*s. Before we discovered all of them someone had already bought a big armful.

When I announced this in the service yesterday a congregant asked: "Do we know anyone in them (the videos)?   the congregation lost it when he asked that - I did too.

This is a fun place to serve. You never know what may happen.

Reel Mower

This afternoon I was able to pick up this 30 inch Gravely Reel Mower Attachment. I hope to cut the grass here at the parsonage with it and experiment around in developing a putting green.

Pottery

Nine years ago yesterday the wife and I were united in holy matrimony.

This is the story of how we met.

First story: we met at the Drive-In, we had mutual friends who introduced us the summer before I went to college.

Second story: the first time I saw "Lori." One Tuesday morning, around 10:45, I woke up and stumbled outdoors with the hope of finding some breakfast type food in the cafeteria. The school each Tuesday had voluntary chapel, Lori went. As I turned eastward my eyes I saw the siloutte of a lovely figure in a yellow and black plaid skirt and a yellow sweater. I thought who in the hell is that. I quickly discovered it was none other than Lori Kaye White.

We talked some, but mostly chit chat throughout the course of the year. I transferred schools, but we kept in touch. My senior year I worked up the nerve to call this woman and ask her out for a date. We dated, had fun, and before I left for my first year of seminary I proposed to her. She accepted and the following June we were joined. Now nine years, two kids with one just banging to get out, moves to Saluda, VA, Rochester, NY, Athens, WV, and Lincoln, RI, and believe it or not a mini-van, here we are.

Thanks to a great buy at a bookstore I found Scott's Originial Miscellany which informed me that the 9th anniversary is pottery. So while in WV I stopped by Taylor Books and found a wonderful mug from Mud River Pottery.

One note about the day of the wedding, folk at Lori's church were quite put off and couldnt understand why we didnt want the blue florscent light behind the cross turned on. Go figure.