Labyrinth
like Twilight
only with a happy ending
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.
#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…
View original post 767 more words
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…
View original post 269 more words
Empty Church
(and p.s. 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)
GA is coming, that’s Presbyterian Speak for our large governmental gathering “General Assembly” where we discuss worrying things like Our Investments (or not) in Israel, How important gay issues really are (or aren’t), and……the fact that there are no young people in the church. Debate will ensue about most of these issues, except the last one. There is no governmental amendment to magically change the demographics of the church
There will be lots of worrying about the drop in membership, the drop in money and the drop in young people in the church.
People will ask where have the people gone? They will also ask why people won’t represent (Particularly the lay people), they will ask where the children are….and they will worry…
However, I do believe that at most churches, Presbyteries and even on the GA floor the wrong question is being asked. The question that really asked isn’t…
View original post 230 more words
The burning que…
The burning question I have for General Assembly….wouldn’t it be cool to have the Order of Worship online? (or am I missing it), I think it would be so cool to pray what they are praying while I’m many miles away…and maybe even bring those prayers to my congregation as I try to educate them about GA?
Burning Question
Light in the Darkness #prayforSPUC
Prayers for Seattle and Canada–
Remember, Jesus is the light that shines in the deepest darkness
Response to Violence
Expecto Patronum to protect all those in danger today we pray
Empty Church
GA is coming, that’s Presbyterian Speak for our large governmental gathering “General Assembly” where we discuss worrying things like Our Investments (or not) in Israel, How important gay issues really are (or aren’t), and……the fact that there are no young people in the church. Debate will ensue about most of these issues, except the last one. There is no governmental amendment to magically change the demographics of the church
There will be lots of worrying about the drop in membership, the drop in money and the drop in young people in the church.
People will ask where have the people gone? They will also ask why people won’t represent (Particularly the lay people), they will ask where the children are….and they will worry…
However, I do believe that at most churches, Presbyteries and even on the GA floor the wrong question is being asked. The question that really asked isn’t Where are all the people.
The worry IS about the emptiness.
But I think the question people are really asking are not “Where have all the people gone?” but rather “Where has Jesus gone?”
Because, if Jesus was in church, then wouldn’t the people be in church? If Jesus was here, wouldn’t people flock to us and what we are doing?
Here I have to confess: I believe Jesus is in the church!
But I also believe Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit is already at work in the world. I believe that church doesn’t hold a monopoly on God (our God is bigger than that)
and I believe that the emptiness the church is feeling is real and is scary….I also believe we have felt it before, when Jesus died on the cross, when the tomb was empty, when Jesus Ascended, when the church was scattering across Africa, etc. etc.
The church is empty, but what can we theologically learn from that emptiness
Maybe Jesus will find us in our church and ask us….
You are afraid of the emptiness? Look at what God did with an empty tomb!
(and p.s. 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)
katyandtheword 