What Shapes You??

People take on the shapes of the story and songs that surround them. Especially when they do not have their own songs.

Anansi Boys
Neil Gaiman

From My Friend Janet - Accepting Leadership

Tillich’s sermon, I am accepted, (I believe that is how it is titled) is an excellent piece for leadership.  Because a leader need to accepts where we are not where we could go or be forced to fit.  It is like at times when a leader tries and force square pegs in round holes.  A leader must first accept himself for all that means and lead others to the greatness of their self acceptance.  It may mean ultimately that people move on from jobs into passion and those passions solve the problem we were trying force the square peg to shave it corners.

If these walls could speak . . .

I still hear the echo of that Amy Grant Song from 1998 -

If these old walls could speak
Of things that they remember well,
Stories and faces dearly held,
A couple in love
Livin' week to week,
Rooms full of laughter,
If these walls could speak.

I wonder what the walls of our offices, houses and sanctuaries might say about us? Or even to us?

How many of us are living week to weak - without plans, goals, getting weaker by the week. Mis-spending our efforts and energies?

I recently read (in Faye Kellerman's "The Burnt House" of all paces) of the Hebrew tradition that walls are harbingers of messages. From the literal writing on the wall in Daniel to the Tzarat, a spiritual leprosy. One contracts Tzarat when one does "lashan harat," or wrongs another by their words. We have all done it and we have all felt the pain from words we have inflicted or words others have inflicted upon us whether the words are about us or another. Tzarat is manifested by sores all over the body. First the walls of the home contract the disease as a visible sign to its inhabitants to change their ways. If these writings on the wall are ignored, the disease progresses until Tzarat is contracted by the inhabitants. I wonder what the Great Wall of China might be saying during these olympics? Are our facebook wall-to-wall comments edifying? I listened to Ken Blanchard yesterday morning and he talked about praising people, helping them to get an A in life, rather than pointing out the places where they have missed the mark. I guess the handwriting really is on the wall for some of us.

See Where Your Georgia School Ranks

Newsweek's Top US High Schools

Shared Sorrow is Lessened, Shared Joy Increased

After a month of visiting other churches, I continue to struggle with “Joys and Concerns.” Anybody else find it difficult to shift gears between a celebration like the birth of a baby and a painful concern like learning of a friend who was just diagnosed with cancer? The emotional shift feels like whiplash of the heart. Terry Tippens at Winder First UMC named that dissonance for me several years ago so he separates the celebration from the struggle. Terry suggested putting the Concerns before the Pastoral Prayer and making Joys the precursor to the offering so that our giving continues in the spirit of celebration. One church I visited had everyone begin their celebrations with the phrase "I thank God for . . ." which made it feel like worship rather than just an announcement.
Any other thoughts? Suggestions? Share your favorite worship ideas with other's on my blog at www.e-quipping.blogspot.com which also includes a list of topics on which I am available to consult in your local church free of charge (your apportionments at work.) Contact me at pschroeder@ngumc.org or 678-533-1444 to talk about ways the Office of Connectional Ministries can help you in your ministry. I look forward to working and worshipping with you in the days ahead.
Phil Schroeder

Please post your worship ideas!!

With Friends Like These!!

Phil Schroeder for President

Have you heard about the phenomenon sweeping the nation? And I didn't even know I was running for president!

Another way to embarrass your family

My friend, Andy Brubaker, Director of Alumni and Family Relations at LaGrange College recommended this website as a source for improving my golf game. I think it will at least distract the other people in my foursome.
LoudmouthGolf

Email

When do you stop replying? You email someone and they reply, but then how do you know when to stop replying. When does a conversation end? At least with a phone call it is pretty obvious. Ever feel guilty for stopping the correspondence? My rule of thumb is when the replies get down to letters like CU (See You) or TY (Thank You) you are probably done. Are there people out there waiting for you to respond? Just wondering and wandering today.

How Awesome is this Place

A True Renaissance Man - Taught me the gift of the Segue

From the Penn Alumni Network
Bruce Eglinton Montgomery, one of America's leading authorities on Gilbert & Sullivan, died suddenly at his summer home on the coast of Maine on June 21st, 2008. The Chestnut Hill resident had celebrated his 81st birthday the previous day.
Mr. Montgomery, or "Monty" as he was known to many, hailed from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he directed musical organizations, many of which were dedicated to Gilbert & Sullivan. He was a long-time member of the Orpheus Club, where he was also named an honorary member for his appearances as guest conductor. He was a true renaissance man: painter, poet, composer, lyricist, author, choral arranger and conductor. He also served on the boards of the Theodore H. Presser Foundation and the Edwin B. Garrigues Foundation. A colorful and vibrant man until the very end, he was beloved by the countless performers and audience members whose lives he touched over a long and distinguished career.
Montgomery served as director of the University of Pennsylvania Glee Club for 44 years (1956-2000), writing, directing, choreographing and conducting their shows on many tours around the world. He published a memoir in 2005 entitled Brothers, Sing On: My Half-Century Around The World With The Penn Glee Club published by University of Pennsylvania Press, relating many of his favorite stories from his tenure as director of the Glee Club, as well as reminiscences about his Gilbert and Sullivan activities. Montgomery served for many years as director and/or music director of Penn's Mask & Wig Club, the University Band, the Penn Players, and many other musical and theatrical groups at Penn before his retirement in 2000. In 1971 he helped to create the Penn Singers, a student light opera and musical theatre company, and continued to serve as their director until his death.
Montgomery was the Artistic Director of the Gilbert & Sullivan Players of Philadelphia – a group founded by his father, tenor James Montgomery – for over three decades after his father died in 1955. Under his guidance, the group produced over 65 productions. He directed and performed leading comedic roles in each of the 14 Gilbert and Sullivan operas. He then served as stage director for the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Chester County, PA from 1987 until 2007.
Montgomery's works have been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and many other performing groups. The music he wrote for Gilbert and Sullivan's Thespis in the 1950s, for which most of Sullivan's original score was lost, was produced on several occasions, including the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in Buxton, England in 2000.
After his 1963 Irish folk opera, Spindrift, was performed by the Penn Players, he wrote the music and lyrics for a hit 1964 off-Broadway show, The Amorous Flea, receiving rave reviews in the New York papers as "the greatest melodist since Jerome Kern and the greatest lyricist since Larry Hart." The show is still performed in regional theater around the globe.
In 2005 Montgomery received an honorary doctorate degree from his alma mater, Bethany College, in Lindsborg, Kansas. He was also named "Man of the Year" by the Friars Club of Philadelphia in 2006.
After this long and distinguished career Monty was honored by The University of Pennsylvania, where the studio theater at The Annenberg Center was renamed the "Bruce Montgomery Theatre." The newly renovated theater was unveiled at a gala celebration on May 10, 2008, marked by live performances of his original compositions. It was the crowning achievement in the life of an amazing and gifted man and was his last public appearance.
Montgomery was looking forward to directing a "Gilbert & Sullivan Entertainment" this autumn in honor of Charles Spencer, the Ninth Lord Spencer, brother to Princess Diana, at a benefit for Studio Incamminati.
Montgomery is survived by an older brother, James Montgomery, two younger sisters, Constance Cook and Elizabeth Thomas, ten nieces and nephews, ten great nieces and nephews, a great-great nephew and a great-great niece.
Burial will be private and a memorial Celebration of Life is planned for early Autumn in Philadelphia. A date will be announced on Monty's website, http://www.montyart.com .
In lieu of flowers Monty's family requests that contributions be made to: The Glee Club Endowment Fund #402396, c/o Platt Student Performing Arts House, 160 Stouffer Commons, 3702 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. (For further information, phone 215-898-2312). Known as the "150 x 150 Campaign," this fund was established to honor the Penn Glee Club's 150 years of continuous operation.

The Passing of a Friend - Monty will be missed

Things I wish I had said

In a recent sermon I quoted Dave Benson who had quoted Rob Bell,

"if you don't like diversity you are not going to like heaven." Then I went a step further and said "If you don't like diversity you are probably not going!" I got a letter from someone this week, with these words:

I've never considered myself racist, was "taught" to love everyone the same and have tons of black friends, but recently I found that my judgment of other" was put to the test. Well . . . in your blunt way one Sunday you said, "If you don't like diversity, you probably won't like heaven very much . . . in fact, if you don't like diversity, you may not MAKE it to heaven." Well, Phil . . . I have to tell you that was God speaking to me directly and after some time in deep prayer, I made and continue to make major changes in the way I see and love others . . . it was such a feeling of relief and a great step toward being more like Christ. I've shared that statement with others and hope that we can call take it to heart.

I had prayed and prayed that the church

I was serving would be more a reflection of the 

diverse community in which we live and those prayers are coming true. 

How did it happen? By the grace of God. 

By being intentionally inviting to everyone. 

Strangely this was one of the keys: 

By inviting Neighborhood Associations to meet at the church

in the sanctuary, welcoming those folks and inviting them to come back. 

I can trace the growth of our church in these subdivisions to the time of these first meetings. 

Some churches see this as a chance to charge for the use of the building, 

my prayer is that is will be seen as an opportunity to reach the community for Christ.

A Day of New Beginnings