A Sung Communion Liturgy for Memorial Services or All Saints Sunday: Holy, Holy, Holy

Holy, Holy, Holy: A Sung Communion for Memorial Services,

or All Saints Sunday

TUNE: NICAEA

Written for the Upper New York Annual Conference 2018 Memorial Communion Service.

  

Holy, holy, holy! God, you are most holy.

We lift up our hearts to you. Together, voices raise:

We, your people gather, at the table gather!

God, in thanksgiving, now we sing your praise.  

You, O God, have formed us, shaped us in your image.

Breathed in us the breath of life and gave to us the earth.

Still, we turn away, God. Still, we wander from you.

God, you are calling. Let us hear your words!

God of priests and prophets, God of all disciples,

God of the faithful who have run their course in faith:  

Saints whose lives inspire us, holy friends who’ve shaped us,

God, for this witness, we give thanks and praise.

Holy, holy, holy, God of light and glory

Blessed is the one who co-mes, carrying your name

Holy, holy, holy, you are most holy.

You sent us Christ to usher in your reign.

Gathered at the table, sharing with disciples

Jesus took and broke the bread as he gave thanks to you.

“Take and eat this bread, friends, symbol of my body.

Share and remember these my words to you.”

When the meal was over, Jesus shared the wine

“Drink from this, the cup life, forgiveness shared with you.”

Jesus, we remember. Jesus, we are grateful.

Gift of redemption, covenant made new.

Holy God, we praise you! All the saints adore you.

All their days they walked your ways and followed Jesus Christ.

In this bless’d communion, we are all your people,

Then, now, and always, to eternal life.

Spoken words of consecration:

Holy, Holy, Holy God, pour out your Spirit on us gathered here,
and on these gifts: the fruit of the vine, the bread of life.
Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ,
that we might be for the world the body of Christ,
redeemed by the love, the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Alternate Sung words of consecration:

Holy, Holy, Holy! God, pour out your Spirit.

Make these gifts become for us the body and the blood.

Make us hands and feet, God. Christ for the world!

We are redeemed, God, made new in your love.

Prayer after Communion:

Sent forth from the table, thankful for the mystery,

thankful for this holy meal in which we share in Christ,

joining with your saints, God, we are Christ’s body.

Sent forth to change the world, giving others life.  

Text: Beth Quick, 2018, Incorporating phrases from “Holy, Holy, Holy” by Reginald Heber.

A Sung Communion for Memorial Services and All Saints Sunday: Holy, Holy, Holy by Rev. Dr. Beth Quick is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

from MFSA - recommendations on the Constitutional Amendments

You've probably seen floating around UMC blogging-circles links to Maxie Dunnam's and/or Eddie Fox's YouTube videos on the Constitutional Amendments being voted on at Annual Conferences this year. I have a lot to say about the amendments, but no time to write right now. So, please check out MFSA's well-crafted document about the amendments with their recommendations, which you can find right here.

2008 Annual Conference Reports

**Update** - Actually, somehow I missed that my own adopted conference Greater New Jersey is also up there year in worship attendance. (The only one in the NEJ.) And Revmommy points out in the comments that North Georgia is apparently up in worship as well, technically.**

It's that time of year again, where my Metho-nerdiness shines through: the 2008 Annual Conference Reports are up at umc.org. (Well, many of them are up anyway.)

I've skimmed through all the posted reports and noticed some common themes, and as always, I like to check out the statistics for membership, worship, and Sunday School.

What I noticed this year:

• Most conferences are ordaining and commissioning far fewer folks than they are retiring.
  
• Missions and outreach seem to be prominent areas of focus at most annual conferences. Most conference take multiple mission-oriented offerings. Many conferences seem to engage in days of service or hands-on times of action during the conference sessions. Nothing but Nets was mentioned in many conference reports.
  
• Relationships between US conferences and African Conferences were mentioned in many reports, and most US conferences are supporting giving to the Central Conference Pension Fund, a hugely important endeavor.
  
• My friend from seminary, Susan Ledbetter, apparently had a baby! Funny to read about that in an annual conference report! Her daughter, Sadie Joy Ledbetter, was baptized at the Arkansas Ordination Service - pretty cool! Congrats Susan and Justin!
• Mergers are happening in North/South Indiana, approved by 77-79% of the conference members, and (probably) in my area, where NCNY, Wyoming, Western NY, and Troy will probably merge into one conference, also sending part of Wyoming into Central PA and Vermont into New England. Our area's merger will actually impact the majority of conferences in our jurisdiction!
• Topics voted on in resolutions: Iraq, war, immigration, Israel and divestment, LGBT rights, etc.
  
• A focus in worship on themes raised at General Conference: the four vision pathways, Three Simple Rules, etc.
  
• Bishop Schnase observed in his area that sometimes conferences don't experience "measurable growth" but do experiences "observable change." What do you think of that statement?

In terms of the statistics for membership, worship, and Sunday School, I'm afraid that as usual, most conference reported drops, sometimes significantly. I don't think the numbers tell us everything. But they're certainly food for thought. I was proud of NCNY for only being down 19 people in worship attendance! I know it's still a decline, but I think that's the smallest decline I've seen in years!

Here's some highlights of where growth seems to be occurring:
New York - Sunday School attendance is up
Peninsula-Delaware - Sunday School attendance is up
Central Texas - Sunday School is up, Membership is up
Holston - Membership is up
North Alabama - Sunday School is up
North Carolina - Membership is up
North Georgia - Membership is up, Sunday School is up
Red Bird Mission - Membership is up
California-Pacific - Worship is up
Oregon-Idaho - Sunday School is up

What do you make of the fact that of those conferences reporting so far, only one is reporting an increase in worship - and that one is Cal-Pac in the Western Jurisdiction!? I bet not many would have guessed that. But it seems like a lot of numbers this year aren't from the places I'd expect them.

Overall, Sunday School attendance seems to be taking huge hits. Is that true in your local experience? What's notable to you in these reports?

from Bishop Willimon: Empowering a New Generation of Leaders

Just read this post at Bishop Willimon's blog, which concludes:

"[This] story is far from unique. This is what happens when we really focus ourselves upon the priority of a new generation of Christians. I’m recommending that next year our entire Annual Conference be focused upon the single priority of empowering a new generation, that any reports be made exclusively by those under forty, and that every church send lay delegates who are all under forty. [New, young leaders] are in every congregation. We must notice them, nurture them, and empower them for God to use them in giving our church a future. By God’s grace, we will!"

What do you think of the Bishop's proposal? I like the concreteness of the plan - very specific things that will be done to empower young people, young new leaders. But I'm undecided. What would your session of annual conference look like if all or most of the lay delegates were under 40? What would it feel like if presentations were made only by those under 40? How active is the under 40 crowd in your conference sessions already?

My own annual conference, like many, I'm sure, tries hard to support young people. Every year, for example, thanks to Bishop Violet Fisher, we take an offering to support our youth attending the NEJ Mission of Peace. This year, we have two young women going to Zimbabwe, at a cost of $4500/person. The conference gave over $8000 in a love offering for their trip, virtually completing the fundraising efforts for these young people, which is a huge gift. The bishop has a policy of always having a young person seated with her on the dais during sessions, and she usually takes time to personally speak about each of them, since she has come to know most of them personally. Our conference secretary makes sure young people are part of his team taking minutes and following the action of conference. We actually consistently elect at least some young people to General and Jurisdictional Conference. These are just a few of the little ways our conference tries to nurture young people. But for every positive, there is vast room for growth, and more intentional behavior. We have many young members of conference, but still a small segment overall. Many churches still seem unaware of the conference youth ministry programs, despite our annual presentation of what we do. We've been working hard to get the word out about what we do. And, our Young Adult Ministries have been virtually nonexistent in the conference. We're working on that, and I'm excited about some possibilities, but it hasn't been given much attention or support in the past.

How do we best empower a new generation? What would be your strategy for going about that? What do you think of Bishop Willimon's proposals?

Red Bird Reflections

I got back Friday night from my week at Red Bird Mission in Beverly, Kentucky. This was my second trip to Red Bird - I went in 2004 with my church as well. St. Paul's has had a team going to Red Bird for fifteen or so years, and the trip is pretty well supported by the whole congregation. We run a little league concession stand all spring and summer, which mostly pays for the trip. Participants really only need to 1) work at the stand and 2) bring some spending money for the meals there and back and on the 'day off'. This makes the trip an option for everyone - the team strives not to have cost be an issue for anyone.

This time around, I wasn't able to go to the work site with the rest of the team, since I'm still recovering from my ankle surgery, and gimping around with a cane. I worked in the Community Store instead, which sells used and donated items at reduced cost. The store is quite an operation. I worked behind the scenes, where all the preparing of items takes place. Nothing is wasted. Everything is used somehow, if it all possible. Items in the store are rotated every two weeks! I enjoyed getting to know this other side of Red Bird. I did feel frustrated and not particularly useful, but the nice thing about Red Bird is that they really do try to find a place for volunteers of all kinds.

The heat in Kentucky this week was pretty oppressive. The heat index kept us at about 105 or 106 most days. Here I was lucky, since I spent most of my day in an air-conditioned building. The Red Bird staff clearly worried about so many (mostly very young) volunteers out in the heat all day. The humidity was such that the floors were actually sweating (my cane was sliding all over the place). I thanked God seriously many times for air-conditioning in the sleeping cabins. I can't imagine surviving the week otherwise.

The Fire Department at Red Bird serves ice cream once or twice a week, a dollar a scoop. The sign indicated Tuesday was an ice cream day, but apparently that was a mix-up. So about 75 of us were waiting for ice cream on Tuesday, when it became apparent no one was coming. Finally, one of the firefighters drove in, just to pick up something from the station. He had no plans of serving ice cream. But seeing so many of us there, he had pity on us, and scooped up what ice cream was already in the freezer. I think if he hadn't, there was a serious chance of a riot taking place.

This area of Kentucky is beautiful. Wednesday is a day off for all the work teams to enjoy the area. We went to Cumberland Falls State Park. We drove through the mountains, and looked at all the coal mining operations. The miners trapped in Utah was clearly on the hearts of the people I met in the Community Store - they are mostly spouses or family members of miners, and I'm sure a dread of experiencing the same kind of accident is always with them.

Other random observations:

• Vegetarian cuisine isn't always easy to come by in Kentucky, though better than you might think. Red Bird works on serving vegetarian options at all meals, though I admit I had a lot of 'veggie sandwiches' - bread, condiments, lettuce, and shredded carrots. They make up for it with fabulous desserts, which are always vegetarian!
• The gender dynamics are - interesting.
  
• The Red Bird Missionary Conference office is tiny. But they get a lot done. The whole Red Bird campus is quite elaborate, and covers a huge range of services for the community.
  
• Kentucky has many strange insects all over that you'd never see in Central New York. I packed carefully to make sure they all stayed in Kentucky where they belonged.
  
• There are many Dairy Queens in Kentucky, and not nearly enough in New York. (For better or worse, there are several within 10 miles of Franklin Lakes...)
  

Extreme Church: Extreme Expectations

When I was elected to General and Jurisdictional Conference, one of the things I received even before I left Annual Conference was a handout on delegate reflection/preparation, which I thought was a nice idea.

Apparently, the theme of the 2008 Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference is Extreme Church: Extreme Expectations. The scripture focus is Ephesians 3:17-20, from Eugene Peterson's The Message version:

"Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. 20-21 God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us."

The handout gives some questions for reflection:

How have you experience God in the extreme - for yourself? In your church?

What might it mean for the UMC to "reach out and experience the breadth," "test the length," "plumb the depths," "rise to the heights" of Christ's love?

What might it mean for individuals and for the Church to believe fully that God can indeed do anything? What would we entrust to God if that were true? How might our listening for God and to God change?

How will we as delegates be open to the Spirit working "deeply and gently within us?" How in particular will we invite God's Spirit to be at work in our preparation and in our Conferencing?

What will we do, both before Conference and during Conference, to "plant our feet firmly on love?"

I like that the worship team (creators of the document) are really trying to encourage some reflection and deep thinking before the event. Of course, too often, General Conference and Jurisdictional Conference is completely wrapped up in taking sides, winning, and making sure your point wins in every issue, and that your candidate gets through for everything - Judicial Council, boards and agencies, Bishop, you name it. Even still, and even though I am typically skeptical and sarcastic about so many things in life, I refuse to throw in the towel and give up hope for these major conferencing events in the denomination. I was certainly wide-eyed and innocent to how bad it could be when I went to General Conference 2000 - I certainly don't have that ignorance anymore. But I'm still hopeful for the church. If we don't have any hope for the church than we really might as well just throw in the towel and not bother pretending.

Can the church change? Or perhaps we're asking can the church still be/start being the church again? Can the church survive? Is there hope? I don't think these questions are over-dramatic. I think the church is having an identity crisis, because lots of people are trying to define what the church is and what the church is about. Is the church about the same good news that Jesus was trying to share in the first century? I hope so. I wish so. I hear these questions for reflection asking about risk-taking. We've stopped being willing to take risks as a church. We can still "plant our feet firmly on love" while taking risks as the body of Christ.

Do you have hope for the church? What is your hope?

Annual Conference Reflections

I'm back from Annual Conference. I still have more Festival of Homiletics reflections to write, but I'll pause from those to talk about Annual Conference. Showing my United Methodist-nerdiness, I have to confess that I love Annual Conference. I have ever since I first attended as an equalization member when I was a junior in high school. I love seeing my colleagues in ministry, lay and clergy, and I love our crazy United Methodist ways, at least most of the time. North Central New York is somewhat unique, in my experience, compared to other annual conferences. I think we are relatively a-political. Of course, all church bodies are political to an extent, but when I look at other conferences and the legislation and resolutions they deal with at Annual Conference sessions, I'm struck by how rare such resolutions are in NCNY. Occasionally we have something controversial, but not usually. Occasionally we have a candidate for the episcopacy, like Bishop Devhadar, but not usually. And when it comes to General Conference, we do things differently than many too. We don't campaign. Laity can fill out an application and give a brief speech at the Laity Session over lunch, but otherwise cannot campaign. And clergy - we just get a giant list of the approximately 400 eligible clergy and start voting. Most of the time, these are things I like about NCNY and make Annual Conference fun.

OK - Last Wednesday was clergy session. It was fun to be on the "other side" of ordination and listen to and vote on candidates for ordination and commissioning. Thom White Wolf Fassett, outgoing dean of the Cabinet, preached on Mark 8:27-29, "We are the Faith Keepers." He said that we participate in the hallowing of each other's lives. He said that "the church is so pre-occupied with its own struggle that it does not accommodate the vision of Christ." The next generations are/will watch us closely - what do they see? Will our own personal stories hold up to those looking for truth. He said that the early church understood itself as a spiritual way and not a religion. Who do you say that Christ is?

Kathy Turnbole, chair of BOOM, shared in her report about a church where they couldn't get people to stop parking in the pastor's parking spot. So they posted a sign that read, "If you park here, you preach here." She challenged us to "Preach where you are parked."

At the opening of the regular session on Friday, Bishop Neil Irons preached on our theme from Micah 6:6-8 (and Luke 18:9-14,) "Walking Humbly: A Point of View." He said that a biblical text is like mechanical drawing where you look at something from different sides and put them together to get an idea of the whole picture. He said, "Extreme wealth beside extreme poverty always makes the poverty worse." He talked about the worship patterns of extremely wealthy communities. They [the wealthy] wanted everyone, including God, to be in their debt. God is obligated to do something for them. God on a string. He talked about the man praying in thanks that he wasn't the tax collector - "He is so glad for who he is, and he’s sure the rest of the world is glad for who he is," and added, "How we are with others is how we are with God."

On the UMC not being a 'creedal' church he said, "We always leave room for God to do something more than we have anticipated." "We have turned this [magnificent, wonderful, etc.] God into a great enabler of our misdeeds." He concluded, "It takes a lot of courage to walk humbly because sometimes it means walking dangerously."

On Saturday, Bishop Violet Fisher gave her episcopal address, focusing on Jeremiah 29:4 and the theme of General Conference 2008, "A Future with Hope."

She asked us, "Have we come to a place where we are promoting our own dreams instead of listening for God’s leading? We will be brought back from captivity when we begin listening to God. Letting go of our own agendas. Do we wait for God to give us hope and a future? Do we trust that God has a plan for this Annual Conference? . . . We shape hope when we say _____, when we decide _______, when we open the door to the stranger, when lives are transformed . . . , when we walk the walk and talk the talk."

"Vision alone is not enough," she said. "There must be a plan. We’ve got to risk. To hope for means more than just saying it. We’ve got to work to make it happen. We’ve got to be willing to let loose, let go, of some of our stuff . . . What must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus answer was 'Let it go.' But People are afraid to let go. They are afraid of the future."

Challenges for NCNY:

Developing spiritual transformational leadership – expectation in congregations that all this leadership comes from the pastor. We pay the pastor, etc. Some laity recognize their gifts, but lack direction to use them, and others have direction, but lack recognition of their gifts.

The only credential for ministry is your baptism.

A ministry of calling, empowering people within your congregation. Be willing to help put manure around trees when they need it.

Average age of clergy in UMC is 57.

Ineffective clergy. Clergy not willing to be retooled, revived, resuscitated. Advised us to read Joseph Arnold article, “Have They Fruit?”

Small membership church. Making disciples? Or a social club?

Urban Ministry – Average age in this region is 37. Where are they?

Strengthen Our Global Witness – Ministry in Africa, HIV/AIDs, Nothing But Nets

We must be "Manufacturers of hope."

Finances. Pastors responsible for financial health of congregations.

Sunday was the Memorial Service, which I always find to be a moving highlight of our time together. My District Superintendent, Rev. Carl Johnson, preached. (On a side note, I can now (and am delighted) to share with you that Rev. Johnson, who retires on July 1st, is following me here at St. Paul's. He will become interim pastor here on October 1st. I'm thrilled for St. Paul's - Carl is an excellent pastor.) He shared with us from Matthew 10:38-42, Matthew 25:31-40 - "God Entrusted You!" - Carl talked about how we don't take the time to really share what is going on in our lives most times. But when we are given the opportunity, we erupt into conversation. Do we ask each other, wonder about each other, "Where did God first encounter you?"

Carl talked about remembering, and that we don't just remember mentally but viscerally. When we share in communion, we remember viscerally. It is a re-memberance.

"Where did God find you?" he asked. If we truly want to honor those we memorialize, we do that in our own flesh and blood.

He shared with us this beautiful reading - not sure of the source - online it is just listed as "Come Walk Among the Stars":

**Update: Source is Winston O. Abbott, grandfather of one of the commenters on this post! Thanks for letting me know!**

My Gift of life is a thing of transient beauty -- a thing of mystery --
and above all else a miracle -- it is a thing of beauty because
of the soul-- a mystery because it stretches between the invisible
yesterday and the unknown tomorrow -- a miracle because it is a
composite of countless other lives --
And as my life has been gently touched by other lives -- it follows
that I have touched theirs too -- one cannot always know the time
of greatest need -- perhaps this is as it should be -- perhaps it is
only for me to light one darkened corner of the path -- to place a
hand upon your shoulder as a symbol of my kinship and
my love -- perhaps I came this way -- as did you -- to fill some
special need -- but this is not always given to us to know --
Sometimes a single word will lift the spirit --
sometimes words are so inadequate ---
and sometimes it is destined that one must only listen --
sometimes a smile will bridge the empty darkness --
sometimes just the nearness is the answer --
From many lives I have gathered courage and strength --
I have learned humility and gentleness -- I am grateful --
And so you must understand that your life is not
of your own -- it has become a part of mine -- and so it
follows that my life does not belong to me
-- it is yours --

Other things at conference:

• I am the conference youth coordinator, and every year we lead a worship service. (Ok - actually, the youth lead a worship service.) The service was awesome this year. Kurt Karandy, a youth who was elected first alternate to General Conference, preached a sermon that had the people shouting and clapping. He even quoted John Wesley and the Discipline, which is a sure sign he's doomed for the ordained ministry. CCYM chair, a young woman named Erica, shared a message and gave a gift to the bishop, all with hair done for the prom, which she had to leave for before worship was even quite over. I'm always amazed at the commitment level of the youth - that they will go back and forth multiple times during the weekend, just to balance other commitments with a commitment to being at Annual Conference.

• What we do fight about at Annual Conference? Money. The thing I noticed is that when we debated (and we rarely debate in much detail about anything - we're generally on the same page about things), it was always about money. It is amazing that the thing Jesus talks most about can be the thing we have the most different ideas about. Or maybe that makes perfect sense. I don't know. It is just frustrating to let money - the lack of it, how we spend it, who gets what, etc. - be the thing that takes up so much of our time.

• Elected to General Conference were clergy - Darryl Barrow (Director of Spiritual Development for the conference), me (Elizabeth Quick), Bruce Webster (my pastor and mentor growing up), Bill Gottshalk-Fielding (fellow vegetarian) and laity - Greg Forrester (NEJVIM coordinator), Stephanie Deckard (youth!), Chuck Forbes (conference lay leader), and Ron Bretsch (a delegate with me in 2000.)

• Jurisdictional clergy - Marti Swords-Horrell, Deborah O'Connor-Slater, Tom Wolfe, Sung Ho Lee, and alternates Thom White Wolf Fassett and Inell Claypool. Laity - Kurt Karandy (youth!!), Shirley Verity, Ed Enstine, Sharon Fulmer, and alternates Jennifer Stewart and Mike Huber.
  

Heading to Dallas in '08 ...

A brief hiatus from my Festival of Homiletics blogging to share my good news - today at our Annual Conference, I was elected as a clergy delegate to General Conference 2008! I'm very excited. I'm a United Methodist nerd, and although General Conference 2000 was one of the most gut-wrenchingly hard times of my life, it was also strangely one of the best and certainly most - memorable? life-changing? moving? - experiences of my life. So thank you to my clergy colleagues who are sending me to General Conference next year. Lots more to say about the Festival, and then lots more to say about Annual Conference, but that's all I have in me tonight. Oh, and also: being ordained last year was awesome, but not being ordained this year - and instead getting to cheer for friends being ordained without the weight of pending ordination on my shoulders - that's a pretty awesome feeling too.

Review: The New UMC.org

Last night I attended a 'launch' gathering for bloggers of the new UMC.org. The web meeting itself was interesting - I simultaneously logged on and called in, and the meeting used Acrobat Connect to guide us through a presentation of the site while we listened to commentary over the phone from Matt Carlisle, Larry Hollon, and Stephen Drachler. The phone connection was a little iffy - feedback and random background noises made it hard to communicate clearly. After the presentation, there was time for Q & A - not many questions were asked - I didn't ask any myself - but I think in part this was because 1) The presentation was clear and the features are somewhat self-explanatory and 2) Until you get a chance to actually check out and use the new site yourself it is not clear what you might want to ask.

So - the new site...

The main feature of the new site is that it contains a social-networking component, which is being hosted/run by 7 Villages. Apparently, some annual conferences (that are cooler and more technology-hip than mine) have already been using 7 Villages, and the hope is that more UMC groups will begin to hook into 7 Villages as a major piece of their web ministries. I've made my page, as well as a 'village' for my annual conference. I'm pretty excited about this site - it's certainly no myspace - some of the features of myspace are missing, and member pages aren't as dynamic and unique, but I think this may change over time as people begin using the site more. Right now things are a little - bulky, I guess I would say - hard to navigate. But there is a lot of potential there, and I'm excited to see what direction it takes.

Other features: Overall, Hollon and Carlisle talked about their process for design and their focus on being user-oriented vs. institution-oriented. They've focused on making navigation easier, making connecting with people and ministries easier, and making local ministries more apparent and more at the center of attention.

Serve: Another new feature allows users to search for volunteer opportunities and for users to submit volunteer opportunities. I think this is a great idea. In the past, I've been searching for a VIM trip opportunity for myself, and found it difficult to find any place where all trips are listed. Still to work on here - the search features should be expanded. I want to be able to search for opportunities by date, or by age-group, etc. Carlisle (or Hollon, I can't remember) mentioned that a recent Christian Science Monitor article notes an increase in global volunteerism - 29% of people volunteered in 2005, an increase, a 30-year high actually. Interestingly, the age-groups volunteering: older teens, baby-boomers, and senior citizens. People want hands-on ways to make a difference.

Pray: You can now submit prayer requests online, which are directed to the Upper Room Living Prayer Center. A more interactive prayer center might be interesting, where people could respond to one another's prayers - a feature like this was shared at the Web-Empowered Church workshop at the Congress on Evangelism - anyone have a link to that feature?

Other features include a still-being-added-to Methopedia, which is a bit skimpy now, but could be quite useful when more articles are added, and a section for local church leaders, giving resources for different positions and ministries. Also, churches now have more freedom to enter their own information and images and details in the find-a-church feature, which is the most-hit feature in the site. I definitely need to update my church's page!

I think this is definitely a positive new direction for the site. A work in progress, for sure, but what isn't? Check it out, and let me know what you think.

Cross-posted at the Methoblog.

Reflections: Exploration 2006

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of leading a group of young people from my annual conference to Exploration 2006, in Jacksonville, Florida. We had 6 youth/young adults from our AC, and two other young clergy lead with me. I had the opportunity twice to go to Exploration ('96 and '98) in high-school and college, and I remember being the only one from my annual conference, or at least the only one I was aware of at the time. So, I wanted to give a more organized experience to young people from NCNY this time around. One of the frustrating parts of the process for me in pursuing ordination was feeling disconnected. I knew I wanted to be a pastor, and communicated that to adults early on and consistently in my journey, but it wasn't until I was back inside the AC bounds serving a church as a probation that I felt really connected again. I've heard many young people express a sense of call, and I always wonder - is anyone following up with them? Is anyone keeping in touch with them? Helping them figure out what to do next? So, I'm trying to answer my own critique at least in part, and make sure I help that connection process take place.

Attending as an adult certainly made me reflect on my two experiences as a participant. When I went in '96 (Dallas/Fort Worth) I was recovering from surgery, and was popping Tylenol with Codeine every four hours for the pain. I slept through most of the event. I remember focusing all of my energy/attention on staying awake, only to realize I had been nodding off mid-sermon. I also remember being pretty sure at that time that I was going into youth ministry, would never attend seminary, and certainly would never become a pastor. I went to Exploration because my own pastor encouraged it, and helped fund the trip. But I did enjoy my time, half-awake and all. It was the first time I ever traveled solo, which is still something I enjoy. And it was fun to be in the presence of so many other young people considering ministry.

In 1998, I had a much different experience. I attended with a handful of friends from Ohio Wesleyan. The event was in Los Angeles, and we flew over the Grand Canyon on the way out. It may sound silly, but I couldn't believe how big it was, even from way up in the plane. I mean, I guess it is the Grand Canyon and all, but it was *so* big and beautiful. (I'm hoping to actually get to Arizona this year to see it a little closer up!) I managed to dig up my participant book this weekend to look through. (Yes, I'm a pack rat.) The structure of the event, the schedule is mostly unchanged. But I was apparently less critical as a young person than as an adult! I made comments in my book about all the preachers and speakers and workshops. I attended two workshops - Women in Ministry and Discerning and Discovering God's Call. I went to the second because my friends were all going to that one, and it turned out to be surprisingly thought-provoking. I was struggling, at the time, with a decision about whether or not to graduate a year early from Ohio Wesleyan. I eventually chose to do so, and my decision in part was from that workshop. I had high praise for Bishop Woodie White, who preached at the commitment service, Bishop Roy Sano, host bishop, and then Rev. Minerva Carcano. Liked the music team. Like all of it, really.

Now, as an adult leader, I couldn't turn off my critical lens. Our leadership from NCNY was interesting - three of us ordained together this June - theologically at opposite ends of the spectrum. All of us under 40. We tend to disagree with each other on most things, but have somewhat of a common understanding about where the church is and where the church needs to be, which makes us interesting partners in ministry too. We talked to each other a lot about the language, the music, the preaching, the structure of the schedule, the seminary displays, etc., though I suspect that we had a lot more to say about this than the young people with us did. Bishop Carcano was supposed to preach the closing worship at this event, but was not able to attend, so I was disappointed there. All in all, though, I know the youth we took had a great time and each took at least something helpful away.

I was just glad to be in Jacksonville instead of Central New York in late November. Our hotel was gorgeous, and right on the river/boardwalk. It was beautiful all weekend, and I was glad to have no responsibilities at the event!

Bishop's Convocation: Deepening the Well

Last week I went to our annual Bishop's Convocation, a gathering for clergy in the New York West episcopal area. It was the first time I've attended. The Convocation is always the same time as Drew's (my alma mater) annual Tipple-Vosburgh lectures, which I've been in the habit of choosing over the Convocation. Let's face it - Drew can usually pull in 'bigger' speakers, I get to see friends that I don't often see otherwise, and going to New Jersey for away time is more exciting than going an hour and a half away to Rochester. But...that said, I decided very last minute to attend the Convocation instead of Tipple. I'd just come back from GBCS in DC, and didn't feel like traveling very far. Plus, I guess I think it is important to invest myself here in my hometown area more than I have been. It's been three and a half years now since I graduated from seminary. I loved it, and I loved the people. But I love here too, and need to be more intentional about forming relationships here. Anyway, the convocation...

The theme was Deepening the Well and was focused on issues of clergy wellness and renewal. I did indeed find the time apart to be relaxing and renewing. I enjoyed the speakers and preachers, and just spending time with my colleagues. I don't know how other pastors in the conference feel, but I feel that in general we have a strong sense of collegiality in NCNY. It is one of the reasons I came home to this conference after seminary.

Some highlights:
One of the preachers was Rev. Margaret Scott. She did a monologue-as-sermon, as Peter's wife. She said, "Where the presence of Jesus is felt, people show up." True words! She reminded us that Jesus was "not immediately accessible," focusing on a passage (where? I forget and am too lazy to look it up) where we read that the disciples and crowds are hunting for Jesus. She challenged us about our sense as pastors that we must be always immediately accessible. And, a good line that got a good laugh: "If there's one thing men hate, it's logic in the midst of panic."

One of our speakers was Kwasi Kena, who is Director of Evangelism Ministries for the General Board of Discipleship. He talked about knowing the difference between "what is urgent and what is important." He gave us a journaling prompt for 'spiritual writing' saying that when you write, you're supposed to "write what you know" - the usual motto anyway, but in spiritual writing, you're supposed to "write what you don't know." He urged us to "create a stop doing list." I liked that suggestion! He also talked about visions, and our tendency to "come up with" visions for churches, conferences, committees. He told us this is going about things the wrong way. "The vision is sent by God," he said, "it isn't just conjured up because we want to write something down on paper."

Rev. Marilyn Wolfe was another preacher, who gave a very moving sermon. She talked about loving the marriage blessing that is in our United Methodist Book of Worship that has the line: "So that those to whom love is a stranger will find in you generous friends" and challenged us and encouraged us, reminding us: "We are Jesus" to some people. We are the only experience of Jesus they may ever have had. So our hope is to be to others, to those to whom love is a stranger, a good representation of the love of Jesus.

Of course, my uncle, Bill Mudge, was also one of the preachers, and I heard great things about his sermon, but I managed too arrive too late for that one. Alas!