More on My Mission and Vision

A dear friend asked me after I had made the great breakthrough with my mission and vision, "Can you make that clearer?" And though I have no idea whether Randa reads this blog, I have come up with a better answer than my original response at the time. I said, "Well, that's the point, to have it loose to better allow it to fit." And she, knowing me pretty well, responded, "If it were concrete that wouldn't be you would it?" (rough translation from the heat addled clergy-ese of Annual Conference)

So here's to explaining "Extending Ministry"

-Extending Ministry reaches out
-Extending Ministry stretches limits
-Ex-tending Ministry no longer just watches the sheep

Extending Ministry has Progress
-By taking each new step of faith and not just allowing "one thing" to dominate ministry extending ministry heeds Christ's continual calls to "come" and to "go".

Extending Ministry has Impact
-That each step is taken is only part of ministry, each step must also make an impact in the life of the person who practices and in the world they affect in following "The Way", Jesus the Christ.

Extending Ministry has Proclamation
-Living Christian faith for myself is not enough. I must proclaim Jesus daily, using words when necessary, and teach others likewise.

Extending Ministry has Longevity
-What I am doing has got to last, for me and for others. The Message is important, but I cannot burn myself out trying to achieve these goals. I must last, and the Message must take deep enough root to last in others.

Extending Ministry has Variety
-Recognizing that each persons is in a different place in faith where we are called to meet them where they are, and there are multiple learning styles I have an obligation to present, live and teach the Gospel with Variety.

Peace,

Tagged

Tagged

from Endangered Species: Church by RevErikaG

Four Jobs I've Had:
Bagboy - Manor Market
Envelope Stuffer - Motivation Development Inc (My Parents' business growing up, and than again I swear it was my job as youth director at both Dunwoody and Santa Barbara to be one of the principles on this job)
Pizza Boy - Pizza Factory, Bishop, CA
Creative Talent's "Do-it" man Rountree Studios, Tuscaloosa, AL (I was responsible for making the creations that the designer designed.)

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over:
Victory - with Sylvester Stallone and Pele
Lord of the Rings
Clash of the Titans (I think I watched this every time it came on TBS as a kid, which was a lot)
The Lion King
Blue Collar Comedy

Four Places I've Lived
Bishop, CA
Tuscaloosa, AL
Atlanta, GA
Santa Barbara, CA

Four Places I've Vacationed
Hawaii - Oahu, Maui, Hawaii
New England - Loved doing the "founding fathers" routes
Southeast - Likewise
Grandma's Cabin - Mammoth, CA

Four of My Favorite Dishes
Pizza - I am loving making my own these days
Chicken - Grilled is a favorite, as is Coke Chicken; pan grilled with a can of coke til the coke evaporates away
Tortelloni
Mexican


Four Sites I Visit Daily
iGoogle - Email, Reader, Weather, News, How-to, Calendar
Yahoo - Email, tv listings (especially since LA Times dropped its guide)
Breast Cancer Site - www.breastcancersite.com and the other links off it
Facebook

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now
Anna's Arms
Grandma's Cabin
Pecan Hill
Lake Mead with a ski boat and houseboat

Four People I'm Tagging
Pastora Deb (My sister)
Will Heath (My Southern Sportswriter)
Eric St. Clair (My Alabama Faculty Connection)
Sean Rountree (My "Other Brother")

Wisdom for today

If you can find something everyone agrees on, it's wrong.
- Mo Udall

Taming the Tongue

Proverbs 25:18

18 Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow is the man who gives false testimony against his neighbor.

James 3

1Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

Matthew 18:6

But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.


Let me say it now-I goofed. I said something in haste that just came out wrong. I implied that one of my youth was a fugitive and a a juvenile delinquent. Those were not exactly my words, but the meaning was close enough for the implication. I was wrong.

He is a better man than I because he came to me out of respect and care and called me on the conversation. I needed that reminder, and I ever grateful to such a strong young man who would be willing to come to me and pull me aside to ask and to continue to talk to me. I pray that he and I can heal from this experience. I know that I am wounded, for I have done wrong.

For this reason I have often feared the texts about being a teacher. But I also know that as a teacher I need to teach from my weakness as well. For none are perfect, save the Son of God, Jesus the Christ.

Lord, forgive me for my wrongdoing.

Amen.

Mission and Vision

I have been struggling for the better part of two years now with trying to develop an adequate vision and mission for my ministry and for the ministry I hope to instill in others.

For many this is a fairly easy concept. They know their call and are affirmed in their call to completion. The goals they set are straightforward and clear. The churches they serve are already on board with their goals, mission and vision and the flow is nearly seamless.

This is not the case for me. I have struggled in my understanding of call as I have a call to camp and retreat ministry and to sacramental service. Much of the church at large that would confirm this call understands sacramental ministry as reserved for the local church setting, otherwise it could be done through any variety of means other than "Ordained Elder" (The United Methodist Church way of saying official pastor).

As such I have struggled in the search for God's heart and words to convey the message of my ministry. I have often described my approach to ministry as one that is ministry by deduction, as in eliminating the other possibilities - sometimes by trial and error. As such the clarity of where we are going is often scrambled in the journey.

Alas, there is hope as the journey is the thing, and I have come to a new understanding of how to journey. Three years of Institute, Church Development and Revitalization Training, Local Church Visioning and that inner need for clarity of purpose have culminated in something very simple.

Vision:
"Extending Ministry"

Mission:
To Extend Ministry through Longevity; Progress; Impact; Proclamation; and Variety

Explanations to come later.

All for now!

Peace,

Annual Conference

So it is time for that Annual Gathering of United Methodists in Redlands, CA for the California-Pacific Annual Conference.

I am certain of a few things.

1) we will be greeted by the University of Redlands representative with a line similar to, if not exactly, "just as the swallows return to Capistrano, the Methodists have returned to Redlands"
(and I keep hoping, even if just for one year, we have Annual Conference in Hawaii)

2) it will be hot in Redlands, and heated on the floor of Conference.

3) I will enjoy the fellowship with folks playing basketball and softball.

4) as if it isn't enough to have meetings for Conference, I have two meetings with agencies of the church piled on top of Conference, during Conference.

5) We can use your prayers...keep praying.

Peace,

This CartoonChurch.com cartoon originally appeared in the Church Times and is taken from ‘The Dave Walker Guide to the Church’, published by Canterbury Press.

Anybody recognize these people. The PCC is the Anglican church equivalent of the Trustees.

Giving

This morning is a big morning at Del Rosa UMC. We are giving away $3000. UMCOR and Greensburg UMC, in Greensburg, Kansas where the church and many homes of parishioners were destroyed by a tornado, are the recipients. The Bishop is coming and it is a big deal.

The $3000 is just part of the almost $25,000 we are giving away to people in the United Methodist Connection and local agencies in the San Bernardino area for the purposes of passing a blessing on.

I talked some long ago (not gonna take the time to go find the posts) about how we had received almost $250,000 in generous bequests from women in the church community who gave back to the church in their death. We are now "tithing" one-tenth forward to the community we have been blessed to share ministry.

How striking it is then to be humbled by the Questing Parson, as he reflects on Elijah and the Widow of Zarepheth and his own congregation.

I hope you'll read and contemplate for yourself what a theology of abundance can be
- or as Bishop Mary Ann Swenson has put it for the vision of the California-Pacific Conference, "To Be the Cup Overflowing"

Peace,

Recycling Connections

Dear Del Rosa Family,

As the summer is upon us, and I have heard the cry of the needy for more water, including rationing in some parts of the state already underway, I was reminded of some of the ways we can help in greening the earth.

We already have some water saving measures in place. The kitchen uses Energy Star appliances in some instances, and the search is on for how to rebuild and remodel the kitchen with the best resources, including green materials, and energy saving devices. We do regular inspections of our water lines and faucets to correct any leaks and we have replaced toilets with lower-flow fixtures several times in recent years.

This month I wanted to focus some on how we can do a better job of following the motto “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle” by providing some information about recycling agencies in our area.

Blessings,

Pastor David Camphouse

Recycling

http://www.co.san-bernardino.ca.us/wsd/

California law mandated reuse or recycling of 50% of our waste disposal in 1989, with the desire to complete this goal by 1999. As of 2004 this goal was reached. We know this can happen even more effectively as we pay attention to our waste and recycle more.

Recycling your cell phone

http://aboutus.vzw.com/communityservice/hopeLine.html

Bring your old cell phone down the church, and we’ll get them down to Verizon as part of their Hope Line program.

From the site: “Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine program puts the nation’s most reliable wireless network to work in our communities by turning unused wireless phones into support for victims of domestic violence.

Verizon Wireless collects no-longer-used wireless phones, batteries and accessories in any condition from any wireless service provider at our Communications Stores nationwide. Phones that can be refurbished are sold for reuse and those without value are disposed of in an environmentally sound way. Proceeds from the HopeLine program are used to provide wireless phones and cash grants to local shelters and non-profit organizations that focus on domestic violence prevention and awareness.”

Recycling your E-waste

http://www.co.san-bernardino.ca.us/wsd/e-wastecollect03.htm

Ever wonder what to do with your old TVs, computer monitors, computer towers, extra electrical “junk”? Did you know that you can’t just throw it in your curbside trash bin?

Electronic waste can be recycled and the website above tells you where and how. If you need help getting your waste to a disposal point, please contact the church office to see how we might be able to pair you with an able body and vehicle to transport your old electronics.

Recycling you Ink Cartridges

http://www.staples.com/

Every ink cartridge you throw away adds multiple layers of problems to our sanitation, with plastics, and chemical compounds, specialized dyes and generally filling up space. Staples and other organizations have places where you can turn in your cartridges for about $3 worth of gift certificates toward future purchases in the store or toward the local school of your choice. If you aren’t recycling yours, please bring them down to the church, and we will start applying those dollars toward in-store purchases of office supplies for the Del Rosa UMC office.

FreeCycle

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SanBernardinoCAFreecycle/

Freecycle(TM) is open to all who want to "recycle" that special something rather than throw it away. Whether it's a chair, a fax machine, or an old door, feel free to post it. Or maybe you're looking to acquire something yourself! Nonprofit groups are welcome to participate!

Everything posted must be FREE, legal and appropriate for all ages. The Freecycle Network is a nonprofit organization and a movement of people interested in keeping good stuff out of landfills while building a sense of community.

Craigs List

http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/

If you want to connect to others, recycle your old garage sale items, without the garage sale, find resources and more, the CraigsList is the place for you.

From the site: “Q: What is craigslist?
A: Local community classifieds and forums - a place to find jobs, housing, goods & services, social activities, a girlfriend or boyfriend, advice, community information, and just about anything else -- all for free, and in a relatively non-commercial environment.”