Author: katyandtheword
Pastor Katy has enjoyed ministry at New Covenant since 2010, where the church has solidified its community focus. She now works at Capital CFO plus as the Non Profit Director. All opinions expressed on this blog are her own and do not reflect those of Capital CFO plus. Prior to that she studied both Theology and Christian Formation at Princeton Theological Seminary. She also served as an Assistant Chaplain at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital and as the Christian Educational Coordinator at Bethany Presbyterian at Bloomfield, NJ.
She is an writer and is published in Enfleshed, Sermonsuite, Presbyterian's today and Outlook. She writes prayers, liturgy, poems and public theology and is pursuing her doctorate in ministry in Creative Write and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
She enjoys working within and connecting to the community, is known to laugh a lot during service, and tells as many stories as possible. Pastor Katy loves reading Science Fiction and Fantasy, theater, arts and crafts, music, playing with children and sunshine, and continues to try to be as (w)holistically Christian as possible.
"Publisher after publisher turned down A Wrinkle in Time," L'Engle wrote, "because it deals overtly with the problem of evil, and it was too difficult for children, and was it a children's or an adult's book, anyhow?" The next year it won the prestigious John Newbery Medal.
Tolkien states in the foreword to The Lord of the Rings that he disliked allegories and that the story was not one.[66] Instead he preferred what he termed "applicability", the freedom of the reader to interpret the work in the light of his or her own life and times.
Job Ch 1: “What a Setup” or Biblical Fairy Tale
The beginning of Job is a total setup.
Once Upon a Time there’s Job: upright and blameless was he. Job was one who had plenty of sons and not too many daughters–sons whose hospitality was great (they really knew how to party people into the kingdom), and they hosted their sisters often.
Job’s hospitality was even greater, making sacrifices and worshipping on his children’s behalf, praying for them, asking for forgiveness if ever they wronged God (because Job admits he may not have been the perfect parent)
God and all the heavenly beings gathered together, and God asks Satan (otherwise known as the accuser/challenger) what he had been up to…
“The usual” Satan answers “Wondering around, looking at earth and earthlings?”
“Oh, did you notice my servant Job?” asks God.”Because he’s pretty much everything I could hope for, upright, honest and true (i.e. he fears God and turns away from evil)
“Why” asks Satan, “You know he only likes you because you take such good care of him, he is well blessed, he has every reason to be good. If you ruined him, all that would change”
“hmmm….” God says, “We shall see…tell you what do what you want to Job’s family, friends and possessions, as long as you leave Job alone, you can do what you want….”
Job is sure set up here. First he is set up to have everything, and then its what’s the phrase? “too good to be true” he is almost “too blessed” and as a result he becomes tested. Here God gives Satan, the tester, rights to do whatever he wants to Job (Excepting touching Job himself) to see just how faithful Job can be….
What a setup!
Don’t we pray for God NOT to lead us into temptation, what is with this? This doesn’t seem fair, how is it that evil can happen to Job and what does it all mean?
Here’s the setup, we are in for a good story, one where evil exists, but not without good, one where suffering is not greater than God, one where temptations and tests are less about who God is and more about who we are……
How will this work?
Plus, this happens in the mythical land of Uz, you know
In fact the “Satan” character could be named “challenger” instead of Satan, because its unclear if the character is evil or just throwing challenges up….
So why does this perfect guy get setup in this way?
Because we’ve all experienced this, the question of why do bad thing happen to good people, theodicy, Why does evil exist, we all have experienced this reality in our lives.
And we all talk about God, its a human thing to talk about God and the role of evil in our lives, It doesn’t matter who you are or what you believe in this is a topic of conversation. So here we are, in a Biblical fairy tale (yay fairy tales!)
Asking the good questions, starting with
Once Upon a Time….http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMzQCaRR_wk
Worship, Church, Buildings and Mission
One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong, tell me which of these things are not like the other, by the time I finish my song
Worship, Church, Building, Mission
My church is very lucky to have a building: it has a good location and is not crumbling (although it needs upkeep)
Here is my question, how much is ministry defined by the building? How much to we decide who we are and what are capabilities by our building.
If we are looking to grow spiritually, then we probably should plan to OUTGROW our building.
This idea is some (I hope) of what is behind the new One Thousand and One Worshiping Communities. The idea isn’t just that church should go to the community, its the idea that church should be exuberantly overflowing into all parts of your lives.
Overflowing, Abundance, Exuberance: These should be the words that you associate with worship, church and mission.
I want monthly Mission projects, theater and arts. I want to be a place where children come to play, communities come to eat, and lonely people come to socialize. I want it to be a place to go when people are new to then neighborhood, or need a new connection in their lives. To do all this, I think we need to be more than outreach, more than in the community, but be lively, engaging and overflowing with Love.
This means Hands on activities, short & clear messages, uplifting conversations and empowering ministries!
Go! Mission! Go!
My Sister
My youngest sister is undergoing transgender operation at the end of July. I’m praying for her, I wish I could do more in sharing about her situation<–I’m working on it.
Luckily I’ve found some great support thru twitter #yesallwomen and #cisgaze which I discovered through it (yay).
One person is saving for an operation.
I have had lots of great conversation with this person
Highlight 1
Ealperin….when my mom says “Why change what God has given you?” When, in fact, my God says, “Oh, no! I’m not finished making you, yet.””
Highlight 2
Ealperin, “Even in different faiths, Love is Love. :)”
me “I know what the God I believe in is like, and definitely Love is grace in motion”
Go theology Go!
Labyrinth
Labyrinth
like Twilight
only with a happy ending
#pastoral #ministry, visits and growing edges
The truth is no pastor ever makes enough visit. If we can start with that as a given, then this conversation will go a lot smoother.
I always want to make a lot more visits. But I have a feeling that a lot of the things I end up doing….like planning the entire session retreat by myself, creating a couple of youth group activities, doing the children’s sermon (although really, I’d never give that up), meeting with the children, and most importantly filling in for any ipso facto committee that used to exist (write a budget? sure, create a new set of bylaws: hmmm if you give me a week to do nothing else, find all the information to get a loan) etc. etc.
I say this, because I always worry that I am not visiting enough. I always know that I should be fitting it in more, but between all the meetings, all the daily tasks and then that thing called personal spirituality and care I barely have time to breathe. And yet the visits are few and far between.
And calls just aren’t the same.
Recently our deacons have not been as together as usual (they do visits too) which means practically no one is getting visited 😦
Of course I’ve had 3 business trips in the last 8 weeks i.e. post Easter and 3 funerals to do in the last month, but I still feel the disconnect. I want to visit. I want to be able to spend time with those who can’t get out. I want to have to freedom to spend the time needed. I thought at this point (about 4 years in) I’d have mastered how it is I go about it. Sometimes I fear I’m getting worse instead of better though!
Here is what I have learned
1. Visits have to be scheduled
2. Visits can last anywhere from 10minutes to 3hrs, which means I need a large chunk of time prearranged to visit.
3. They can use up emotional juice or be rewarding, its hard to tell what will happen til you go in.
I tend not to know what the schedule is for the week until my husband gets his work schedule a day or two before Sunday, and to set aside a large chunk of time is really difficult, but…..I’m working on it. I continue to try to arrange for care so I can get out and see people, I try to be clear about how long I’m available to visit, I will get back to calling people.
But honestly I wish we could meet over coffee hour and catch up….and I’m sure that they do too!
In the meantime, hopefully its never too late to visit!
Church can change the world!
Think One Person Can Change the World? So do We” Oberlin College got me with this poster. This poster resonated with everything I believe and my (w)holistic approach to Christianity. Not only do I think one person did change the world, Jesus Christ. But I also believe that God continues to work through singular people through this process of “call” to continue to change the world towards the kingdom, one person at a time.
There were a million other reasons why I went to Oberlin, but this was the primary one. Its also why I go to church. (as opposed to sitting at home and being spiritual). Here is my church biography in short:
When I was 10 I was confirmed as an adult member
I was assisting with Sunday School at age 12
At age 14 I told an emergency Children’s Sermon
By age 15 I ran a Vacation Bible Fair (just one night)
I was empowered, as such I am excited to see what I will do from now on!
Through church I find partners, through partners to be empowered to make a difference in the world. It is one of the few places where age/gender/monetary status are as big factors as gifts, talents and passion. Church is super-empowering, a place to find partners, to create good and work towards the Kingdom that we can only imagine at the moment. “Think one person Can change the world? So do We!” Friends believe the Good News of Jesus Christ, and lets find ways to follow the Call of the Holy Spirit, Together!
Narrative Lectionary: God First Edition
Why Rainbowing the Presby Seal Works for Me
Anytime Facebook gets momentum on profile pictures being changed for advocacy reasons it creates tension. Last time I experienced this with the red equal signs for marriage equality and I, after a FB exchange, blogged about why I did it, here.
Yesterday, again with marriage equality, the denomination in which I serve – The Presbyterian Church (USA) – made way for marriage equality through two efforts: one immediately allowing pastors to use discretion and perform same-gender marriages, and the other a constitutional change to the definition of marriage affirming its traditional understanding as between a man and woman but also changing to two persons to recognize a larger understanding of marital covenants. Then a lot of Presbys took FB profile pics by storm changing our seal to some version of rainbow.
Today I heard (indirectly, but I heed her voice) from another person who didn’t appreciate the “rainbowing” of…
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We Can Do Better: A Resolution for Childcare
My thoughts…..if you want more families to be present I highly recommend BABYSITTING and FAMILY FRIENDLY accommodations as a start, it isn’t an amendment that will bring families flocking in, but it is a way to serve those who are already present–this should not be an uphill battle folks, it should be a given
Having attended General Assemblies of the PCUSA since I was 10 years old, they have become family affairs for me and my family. I often see them as a family reunion, celebrating the connectionalism that we hold so highly in our words and deeds as a church.
Now that I am a father and on this day in which we celebrate fathers I have been frustrated with the lack of support and care for families and especially children for those attending the General Assembly. Two years ago, as the church gathered in Pittsburgh and my wife and I began to plan our trip to observe and celebrate our family, church and biological. We were met with hurdle after hurdle and flat out disdain for the desire to share the expereince of General Assembly with our two small children. I am a lucky one. My mother and father, love General Assembly…
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