Moving west

I'm headed to Nebraska! I've been assigned to the Nebraska Synod of the ELCA, so I'll begin my ministry somewhere in the Cornhusker state.

Bishop David deFreese called last night with a warm welcome to the synod. They were assigned five graduates, and we will all fly to Omaha at the end of this month to meet the each other and synod staff, and to talk more about our gifts and desires for ministry.

The synod website shows 36 open calls right now. Even though not all of them will be suitable for first-call candidates, it's a good sign. I'm optimistic that I'll be gainfully employed and launching my ministry sooner rather than later, so I look forward to this unfolding adventure!

Region 4

On Wednesday evening I was assigned to Region 4 of the ELCA, so I will start my ministry somewhere within this large area of the mid- to south-central U.S, which includes Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, most of Texas, and Louisiana.





Given the huge geographic variations within this area, I'm eager to hear which synod I'll soon call home. It will make a big difference to the specifics of this new adventure...Nebraska is quite different from Louisiana, after all! I should get that news from one of the six bishops of this region on Thursday or Friday, so stay tuned!

Exciting week ahead

I’ve been away much longer than anticipated! Fall semester was busy and transitioning back to full-time classes after internship took some effort. Now fall semester seems ages ago, January term is in the record books, and my final semester at Luther Seminary is underway.

While I can’t promise a return to regular blogging just yet, I thought an update was in order. Early last fall, I wrote the last essay for my candidacy process. In October, I had an interview with two faculty members at the seminary, and in December, I had an interview with my candidacy committee back in the Southeastern Iowa Synod. The committee approved me for ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

(If this sounds foreign, get the lowdown on the assignment and call process in this post.)

In just three days, late in the evening on Ash Wednesday, my classmates and I will learn of our regional assignments. At the same time, we will learn when we can expect to hear from a bishop with news of our synod assignment. Many regions do synodical assignments on March 1, so it will likely be around then.

The mix of emotions among seniors (including me) is out of control. Anxiety, excitement, grief, hope. It’s all the stuff that goes along with most major life transitions, and it’s amplified by the relative lack of control we have in this process that will so profoundly affect our futures.

But, perhaps the lack of control is also a blessing. I’ve expressed my preferences, tried to convey a sense of myself through a mountain of paperwork, and met individually with one of the seminary representatives attending the assignment consultation.

The outcome is now officially and completely out of my hands. There’s nothing left to do but trust that the Holy Spirit will work through the process, and remember that, wherever we’re called, we can follow with confidence as God leads the way.

So...watch for more news in the weeks ahead!

Another farewell

Or perhaps a "see you later" is more like it.

I've moved back to St. Paul. I finished my final internship evaluation. I wrote and submitted my approval essay. I've started my final year at Luther Seminary. I gave a presentation to my classmates about my internship experience. Now it's time to start focusing on the daily round of reading and assignments and other commitments. Next up: assisting in the Holy Communion chapel service next Wednesday.

A full load of classes, an on-campus job, and other obligations leave little time for blogging, so it's time for a hiatus. I have one more post planned for tomorrow; after that, I'll show up only very sporadically. If you'd like to catch any updates but don't use a blog reader, there's a "follow by e-mail" option on the left-hand side of the page that will save you from having to check here directly.

I'm likely to check in at least a little more frequently next semester, as I'll be taking fewer classes and the assignment process will start to get interesting. Thanks for your support through the ongoing adventure!

Beauty and transcendence

One of my favorite blogs, Beauty Tips for Ministers, is written by a Unitarian Universalist minister in Massachusetts. It focuses primarily on the importance of presenting ourselves in a way that communicates to others that we have something of value (the gospel of Christ!) to share with the world and deserve to be taken seriously.

She recently posted some reflections on her recent trip to London. Much of it is specific to particular museums and other experiences, but in the midst of the post was this gem:

I feel very strongly that a huge part of the poverty of soul in America right now is that we are surrounded by mass-produced products and living in aesthetically depressing wastelands of strip malls and chain stores. Signage is utilitarian, our forms of entertainment are an assault on the eyes, and human beings have given up and resorted to the sloppiest, most “comfortable” forms of dress and attire.

My work with this blog and issues of clergy image are deeply connected to the visual arts as a means toward transcendence. I feel that many clergy are enamored of the literary arts (we are people of the Word) and desperately need to attune ourselves to the visual realm of beauty and help our people do the same. We are bombarded by so many manipulative images every day (images designed to get us to purchase or use particular products that are all essentially the same under their packaging), we have lost the appreciation for, and language about, art for art’s sake, and fear to be thought shallow if we speak on behalf of Beauty.

It articulates some of why I post experiences of beauty every week, which I explained way back when (over a year ago already!). We are embodied people with five different senses that enable us to engage with God, with each other, and with the created world in different ways than our linguistic/cognitive abilities allow.

The connection with manipulative imagery was particularly interesting. I think the church has alternative imagery to present (architecture, art, icons, and more) that speaks to invitation rather than manipulation, and abundance rather than scarcity of beauty. But do we pay enough attention to these great gifts?

The long goodbye

Or, more accurately, the many goodbyes. The farewell process has been quite protracted for me, as I complete my service with eight congregations. But now the final day has come and my internship is over. I moved everything yesterday and stayed one last night in an almost-empty apartment to lead worship at Gol this morning. Now I depart for St. Paul to begin my final year at Luther Seminary.

Here's what I wrote in my final newsletter column:

“I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel…” (Philippians 1:3-5).

Dear friends in Christ, my year as your intern is winding down. On August 28, I will return to Luther Seminary, preparing to graduate in May 2012. Thank you for the privilege of learning among you this year. It’s been a pleasure to get to know you and to share in your worship, study, service, and fellowship.

Thank you for your faithful commitment to this internship program. Supporting the education of future pastors is a great gift to the wider church. Your witness to God’s power and love will continue to work in me, affecting all the congregations and individuals among whom I serve in the future.

You have helped me expand my role as a student and begin to grow into my identity as a pastor, a process that will continue throughout my ministry. I am deeply grateful for your warm welcome, encouragement, and prayers. I hope you will continue to pray for me, for your pastors, and for the whole church.

You can be certain I will remember you in prayer, with thanksgiving for all the ways you have blessed me, and with joy at God’s faithfulness among you. I rejoice in your presence among my “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1), and thank you once again for a rich and delightful year of learning.

Peace in Christ,
Intern Amanda

These congregations had a life before me and will have a life after me, just as I had a life before and will have one after. It's a strange reality to get used to when I feel such a connection with this place, these congregations, and these people. I'm actually a little surprised at how connected I feel, when I wasn't fully immersed in any one congregation.

But the gospel love that ties us together is remarkably strong, and that connection will continue, as I have discovered with my beloved home church. I'm delighted that they're now a part of my story, and I'm honored to have added my voice to the ongoing story of these congregations and their life in Christ.

"It's Not About You"

A wonderful article by David Brooks in the New York Times: "It's Not About You." It's a couple months old, from the height of college graduation season last spring. Such good stuff that I had a hard time narrowing down the excerpt. Here's a taste; check out the whole (brief) article here.

...many graduates are told to: Follow your passion, chart your own course, march to the beat of your own drummer, follow your dreams and find yourself. This is the litany of expressive individualism, which is still the dominant note in American culture.

But, of course, this mantra misleads on nearly every front.

College grads are often sent out into the world amid rapturous talk of limitless possibilities. But this talk is of no help to the central business of adulthood, finding serious things to tie yourself down to. The successful young adult is beginning to make sacred commitments — to a spouse, a community and calling — yet mostly hears about freedom and autonomy.

Today’s graduates are also told to find their passion and then pursue their dreams. The implication is that they should find themselves first and then go off and live their quest. But, of course, very few people at age 22 or 24 can take an inward journey and come out having discovered a developed self....

Most people don’t form a self and then lead a life. They are called by a problem, and the self is constructed gradually by their calling.

I'm pleased that he named this reality that life is about commitment and calling. As important as it is to have a solid sense of our own identity, we cannot develop that identity in a vacuum. An outward focus and sense of responsibility to people and things beyond ourselves is very important and too easily overlooked.

Introverts at VBS

I got to help out with vacation Bible school (VBS) at both Holden and Grace this summer. Both groups did a wonderful job putting together a great experience for the kids and I was happy to participate. VBS is a very important ministry for Christian education.

As fun and educational as VBS is, it can be a little overwhelming for some of us, and Aubry Smith wrote a funny and insightful guest post about it for Adam McHugh's blog, Introverted Church. Here's an excerpt highlighting some of the pitfalls.

VBS combines some of the biggest hazards for introverts:

1) lots of people

2) lots of noise and encouragement for more noise

3) lots of new information via the VBS theme, schedule, new people, teaching, material, etc.

4) quick activity change with no time for processing

5) lots of singing, dancing, and other high-energy activities

I could tell which of my students were more introverted or slower processors, because I had to rush them from one activity to the next and they were never quite ready to switch when the time came.

All these same criteria apply to almost every church experience geared toward youth: Bible camp, mission trips, youth gatherings, and more. Smith also envisioned an "Introvert Fantasy Camp," her concept of what introverts would enjoy at church camp. It's pretty great...the key features are below.

1. Actual quiet time
2. Low-key worship
3. Processing time after the message
4. Separate sleeping quarters
5. Group time
6. No guilt for introversion
7. Excitement and volume don't equal devotion

This is right up my alley, and it would have suited me at any age of my life, including my childhood and teenage years. I know I'm not the only one, but I also know it's not easy to fit everyone's personality and learning style in large-group events.

VBS isn't so bad because it's only a few hours at a time. The mission trip I went on was a bigger deal because it was six days and five nights. There was very little downtime for processing and transition and very little privacy, even for sleeping. But if there's too much downtime, the extroverts get restless, and that can be trouble.

And, of course, many other learning experiences cater to introverts. Extroverts struggle to be still and quiet in "traditional" classroom settings, for example, which I certainly encountered during confirmation classes.

It's a tricky balance, and there are many more factors at play than just introversion and extroversion. But at least if we're aware of these different learning styles, we can work toward a mixture of activities to suit both, and we can be patient with the non-dominant styles in any setting.

The hallowed funeral lunch

I have been blessedly free of funerals lately, after a pretty intense run earlier this year. There have been a couple in our parishes in recent weeks but I have sat them out due to scheduling conflicts or "extra" clergy types already participating. I'm really not short on experience at this point, so it's not quite as important to clear my calendar for funerals, at least in terms of my own learning.

But I did want to give a shout out to the faithful servants of our congregations (and many others) who add so much to the day by preparing a lunch for the mourners. There's a reason the funeral lunch is such an institution--it's an important opportunity for the bereaved to gather and support each other and share stories and start to laugh again.


All set up and ready to go at First.




Norwegian napkins for a personal touch at Grace.




Serving table coming together at Holden.




Cake. There is always much cake. This time it's at Gol.




It's a blessing that so many folks are willing to take hours out of their day to cook, prepare, serve, and clean up for a whole crowd of people. One of my pastors calls the funeral lunch a "ministry of love and mercy" and I think that's an apt description.

The candidacy and assignment process

My last pastors' roundtable discussion is today, and I asked my dear pastors to share their wisdom on the assignment process, interviewing for pastoral calls, and so forth. So it's on my mind, and I know many folks don't know much about the process that leads from "Maybe God is calling me to ministry" to ordination or consecration.

Warning to the unsuspecting: This ended up crazy long. If you're already familiar with the candidacy steps I've encountered along the way, you may want to skip down about halfway (after the bullets) for a discussion of the assignment process. Be sure to check out this blog post by Bishop Mike Rinehart of the Gulf Coast Synod describing the experience of assigning candidates.

Candidacy is the process established by the ELCA to prepare and approve new pastors, associates in ministry, diaconal ministers, and deaconesses. Pastors are ordained ministers of Word and Sacrament, while the others are ministers of Word and Service, who are consecrated rather than ordained. Candidacy involves the candidate, his or her home congregation, the home synod candidacy committee, and seminary faculty. There are three steps:

• Entrance involves an application, essay, congregational registration, background check, psychological screening, individual interview, and panel interview with the home synod candidacy committee. The essay includes background information about the candidate and his or her family, faith life, and understanding of the ministry to which he or she feels called. This step happens before a candidate starts studies at seminary.
  
  
• Endorsement involves an essay and panel interview with members of the home synod candidacy committee and the candidate's faculty advisor. The essay is about the candidate's understanding of the church's confession and his or her own faith, the candidate's sense of vocation and assessment of his or her own gifts for ministry, and the candidate's understanding of the church's mission and his or her role in it. This takes place before a candidate serves an internship.
  
  
• Approval is the final step. It involves another essay. This year's questions focus on the church's situation in the midst of a changing culture, and one of the questions calls for a sermon (or Bible study for candidates who will be non-ordained leaders). If I understand correctly, there is an interview with faculty members of the seminary, who make a recommendation to the home synod candidacy committee. Then there is another interview with the candidacy committee, who make a final decision. A positive approval decision is necessary in order for a candidate to be assigned to serve in the ELCA.

Once a candidate is approved, he or she can then be assigned. The assignment process overlaps with the candidacy process in the final year of seminary study. Like so many things in life, it entails the completion of many forms. Most of us do not take great delight in filling out forms but, of course, they are a necessary means by which we attempt to communicate to the church something of ourselves and what our ministry is about. At this point, we have a chance to restrict our availability to specific geographic areas, or to submit preferences while remaining open to a call outside those preferences.

For spring graduates, the paperwork is submitted by December 1 and the assignment meeting takes place in February. Synod bishops, regional coordinators, churchwide staff, and seminary representatives gather to divvy up all the available candidates among the regions, and then among the synods, of the ELCA. Bishop Mike Rinehart of the Gulf Coast Synod wrote a great blog post describing this meeting. Check it out here.

Soon after this meeting (late February), candidates learn which region they'll be serving. I can't speak to other seminaries, but at Luther, everyone gets their envelopes together on "draft night," with attendant festivities abounding. Within a couple weeks (early March), each candidate gets a phone call from the bishop of the synod to which they've been assigned.

From that point, candidates work with the synod staff to discern which congregations in that synod have positions available and might be a good fit for each candidate. The synod sends the candidate's paperwork to congregations that have potential as good matches, and each congregation decides whether or not to interview the candidate. After each interview, the congregation can choose whether or not to extend a call, and the candidate can accept or decline any call that is offered.

So our process is more open that a strict assignment (as in, you go to the specific congregation to which the church sends you), but more structured than the typical process of finding a job after graduation (as in, you search for, pursue, and secure a job totally on your own). Subsequent calls are more flexible.

Like any other system, it's by no means perfect, but we all know the Holy Spirit is perfectly capable of working even through imperfect. So we simply hope for God to lead us to a place where we can serve faithfully and joyfully in ways that suit our new context, and we trust that everyone involved in the process is praying for the same.

Pastors retreating

I've posted about the retreats I've attended with the Society of the Holy Trinity, which include education but are primarily focused on worship and daily prayer. And I wrote about the solitary retreat I took at the ARC Retreat Center last summer.

So, naturally, a short article entitled "Pastor Retreating" caught my eye. It was written by Jenny Warner on Patheos and can be found here. Here's an excerpt describing some aspects of a typical retreat experience:

Walking around, there are multiple signs that invite quiet. The staff expects that you will rest and not produce anything. The Protestant work ethic is nowhere to be seen in a retreat setting where nothing but the slow pace of soul work needs to be done and where taking a nap in the middle of the day is always a good place to start. This change of pace forges new paths for the Spirit in our hearts.

She is talking more about solitary retreats than group retreats, and her observations align with my own. It's a singular experience to take a solitary retreat, and very valuable. But the conundrum of clearing the calendar is the same for solitary or group retreats. In fact, it's also the same for daily prayer time.

I have found it necessary to remind myself constantly that Sabbath time is healthy and appropriate. I seem to need a reminder that my work is not going to save the world. God has taken care of that, and taking some time each day and some days every once in a while to remember that helps set up a whole different paradigm of time.

It's a sharp contrast to the American hyper-focus on constant productivity and accomplishment, and it's really important for perspective. And I don't think I'm alone in needing the reminder.

Talking to little girls

I recently read an article about how we talk to young girls, and the impact our interactions might have on them. It seemed timely, given all the new baby girls surrounding me lately, from Skye to Dayla to Annika.

Lisa Bloom suggests in "How to Talk to Little Girls" that we focus too much on little girls' appearance, feeding into our culture's obsession with looks, especially for women and girls. I've caught myself doing this (as she says, little kids are just too darn cute not to notice it!) so I'm glad I have a couple years to practice before these babies are more interactive.

And, by the way, I think we do similar things to little boys, but the article happens to focus on girls. I'll have to start paying attention to people's interactions with boys vs. girls and discover how much difference there is.

More on Memorial Day

I recently shared some thoughts and an article on observing patriotic holidays like Memorial Day. I wrote in favor of letting the Sunday observance take precedence over the holiday. In reality, of course, I realize that this isn't always the most appropriate pastoral move, and I must say that Pastor Dick Hegel did a great job weaving the two occasions together at Hegre over the holiday weekend.

In his sermon, he spoke of Memorial Day as an occasion of both remembering (bravery and sacrifices) and forgetting (old animosities), and he compared that to what God does for us, remembering (love and mercy and forgiveness) and forgetting (our sin and failures).

He compared the remembering we do at patriotic holidays to the remembering we do with the story of Christ...in both cases, it's about telling the story and letting the past affect our present and our future. It was very well done.

Meanwhile, Memorial Day weekend was a good chance for me to get away and spend time with family. I'm lucky that my grandmother lives close enough that I could easily spend most of the long weekend with my family without missing Sunday morning worship. So here you have it, Miss Dayla Elizabeth, my six-month-old niece.


With her great-grandma...




With her Aunt Amanda...




And cashed out...

Power and mission

June newsletter for the churches (which will bear some resemblance to the upcoming Sunday's sermon, I suspect, since it was inspired by the Acts text on which I'll preach).


Jesus told his disciples, “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now….you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:5, 8). Then the Holy Spirit came upon the church on the day of Pentecost, with the rush of a mighty wind, with divided tongues of fire, and with a miracle of language (Acts 2:1-13).

That same Spirit was poured out on you in your own baptism: the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the Spirit of joy in God’s presence (LBW baptism service, from Isaiah 11:2).

This means that, along with the disciples, you have been commissioned to be witnesses to the risen Christ in all the ends of the earth! And, along with the disciples, you have been equipped to fulfill that commission with the Spirit’s own power! The Holy Spirit gives us words when words otherwise fail us (Mark 13:11) and intercedes for us when we cannot even manage to pray (Romans 8:26).

So you need not doubt your ability to fulfill Christ’s command to proclaim the good news of God’s love and mercy. Instead, you can trust that the Holy Spirit will guide you to show forth Christ in both words and deeds.

Thinking theologically about Memorial Day

I was considering sharing some of my own reflections on the church's relationship with patriotic holidays, but then someone else read my mind and wrote basically what I would have written, only better. Far be it from me to reinvent the wheel.

So, with thanks to Katie for linking this article on Facebook, here you have it: "Thinking Theologically About Memorial Day," by Kevin DeYoung, a pastor in the Reformed Church in America.

I very much appreciate the balanced perspective he articulates: love of country is absolutely admirable, but it should not infringe upon Christian public worship. An excerpt:

Earthly worship should reflect the on-going worship in heaven. And while there are many Americans singing glorious songs to Jesus there, they are not singing songs about the glories of America....Are we gathered under the banner of Christ or another banner?

We should absolutely pray (in private and in public, including in worship) for our country, its leaders, and those who serve it in the military or otherwise. We should celebrate patriotic holidays with gratitude for our great nation and for those who have sacrificed dearly to make it what it is. But Memorial Day is on Monday, not Sunday.

Technology workshop

Last week, two area pastors who serve four area churches (including Holden and Dale) convened a little seminar on Christian teens and use of technology. They offered some basic statistics like these:

• three-quarters of teens own cell phones
• teens spend an average of more than 30 hours a week online
• almost half of kids have been bullied while online, and over a third of kids have been threatened online

They talked about technology as a set of tools that we can use constructively or destructively, and they offered a few passages from scripture and The Small Catechism to help us consider how we might use technology positively and faithfully as Christians.

Woven throughout the presentation were discussion questions for parents and kids to talk about together, like how much phones have changed over the years, how much time we each spend online and/or texting, and personal experiences with cyber-bullying.

Confirmation students to attend (with a parent) and invited others to attend as they wished, so there were a few older folks there as well. They presented a lot of relevant information and helped teens to think a bit more carefully than usual about how they use the many tools that fill their lives, and how they can do so in ways that are consistent with their faith.

It was very well-done and the participants all seemed quite engaged. It's a worthwhile endeavor for any church to consider, especially in light of the potentially tragic consequences of cyber-bullying and other abuses of technology.

The other congregations involved were Trinity in Wanamingo, and Wanamingo Lutheran, neither of which I work with directly. But stay tuned for pictures of Trinity, where the workshop was held!

Speech and silence

My April newsletter column for the churches...


We have four different accounts of Jesus’ life from four different authors: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each story is just a little different from the others, which doesn’t mean that they aren’t true. It just means that the authors write from different perspectives, focus on different themes, and notice different details of the same events.

On Easter Sunday, we usually hear John’s account of the resurrection of Jesus. And it’s a great story. Matthew and Luke each tell the Easter story beautifully as well, but I’ve developed a fondness for Mark’s version.

The way Mark tells the story of Jesus, his disciples are often confused. They fail to understand what Jesus is trying to teach them, and when he tells them to keep quiet about his work, they just can’t seem to do it. After he cured a deaf man, “Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it” (Mark 7:36).

Then, when the women find the empty tomb, the angel tells them to go and tell the disciples what they have seen. So what do they do? According to the shorter version of Mark’s ending, “they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” (Mark 16:7-8).

So, in Mark’s gospel, the followers of Jesus can’t seem to keep quiet when told to do so, but neither can they manage to speak when they’re supposed to do that! (Of course, the women at the tomb eventually managed to tell the others what they had seen; otherwise the story wouldn’t have gotten to us.)

But isn’t it encouraging to know that God can work through such imperfect people? People who so often can’t get it right? People who speak when they should keep silence and keep silence when they should speak?

It’s a reminder that God can and does work through each of us, in spite of our failures and flaws. None of us gets it right all the time, but still God does his work, and we are each a part of it. I pray that the Spirit inspires you in telling the story of Jesus, and I wish you the joy of knowing that your imperfect efforts are never in vain.

Visitors from home

I've been lucky enough to have all kinds of fun weekend visitors lately! Last weekend my dad came up, and this weekend I welcomed four dear friends from my home church, Bethlehem Lutheran in Vinton, Iowa.




(Better pictures on the Bethlehem website here.)


It was such a delight to see these people who have been some of my strongest supporters on my journey into ministry.

My pastor (who was among these visitors) was the one who first suggested to me, during my confirmation years, that I might consider whether God could be calling me to ministry. He and the rest of the congregation continued to nurture my faith, as they had done throughout my life, and they began to nurture my sense of call as well.

They gave me plenty of opportunities for leadership in worship, helped me get involved on committees and in other areas of church life, and generally encouraged and affirmed me through every step of the slightly winding path that brought me to this point in my vocation.

I couldn't overstate the pivotal role of these four people in particular, and the entire congregation in general, in forming and shaping me into the pastor I will be, nor could I adequately express my gratitude for all their support, which continues today in a variety of forms.

Fortunately for me, these folks also happen to be fun people, so we had a fantastic time catching up, shopping (even braving the Saturday crowds at the Mall of America), and eating. I'm becoming quite the spoiled intern with my regular trips to the Fireside, Tavern, and Hubbell House!

And they were warmly welcomed on Sunday by the folks at Trinity, where I preached and led the adult forum. It was the greatest pleasure to see my past, present, and future all represented in such a lovely way.


P.S. I asked our server at the Hubbell House to take our picture, which she did. Much debate ensued among its subjects over whether or not it was fair game for the blog. I decided against posting out of respect for the innocent bystanders in the background, but that should not be interpreted as a guarantee of such restraint in the future!

Sabbath Manifesto

Sabbath Manifesto is a project focused on reclaiming a weekly day of rest.

The group behind it has developed ten principles for observing sabbath. Each principle listed below is linked to an explanation (on the site My Jewish Learning) of how it fits with biblical and traditional insights surrounding the Jewish day of rest.

1. Avoid technology

2. Connect with loved ones

3. Nurture your health

4. Get outside

5. Avoid commerce

6. Light candles

7. Drink wine

8. Eat bread

9. Find silence

10. Give back


Participants are encouraged to interpret the principles in the ways that work best for them.

I like the focus on slowing down and disengaging from the technological frenzy of life. And I like the acknowledgment that the sabbath was designed for both the good of the individual and the good of the community (hence the principle of giving back).

How long is worship?

One of the most common concerns pastors hear from parishioners is that worship is too long. There could be many reasons for this concern, from restless children to Sunday schedules full of other commitments.

Much of it stems from a misunderstanding of what worship is. We forget that worship is not just some kind of show or lecture, but is, in fact, an encounter with the living God.

Here's another worthwhile post from Old Worship New, a blog I've referenced before, that elaborates beautifully. An excerpt:

We cannot expect worship to be a significant aspect of congregational life if we allow it to be approached as if it were as trivial in the grand scheme of things as many things are in our chaotic lives. It is not sitcom in which every problem is solved in 30 minutes, or a sporting event in which, on some occasions, we go into "overtime." It is not our play-date with Jesus....Worship is not like swimming lessons or soccer practice. It is not an activity to be planned or an event to be scheduled; it is not just one more thing that we pencil into our datebooks. Worship is a way of life.

The author quotes from Brian Wren's article, "Creative Liturgy," from The Episcopalian (1988), saying worship must be "long enough to bury Christ and me and resurrect us both again." It's right on.

There are some legitimate reasons to worry about worship being too long. There are many more reasons to worry about why we want worship to be shorter.