I woke up just not interested in NORMAL….here are my thoughts…
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Introverted Pastoring
The other day I wrote about SETTLING INTO A NEW ROUTINE. I wrote about how this time has birthed in me a new attention: towards prayer, towards writing, towards art and towards taking care of the Vicarage.
I didn’t write about how this “settling in” has affected the work of ministry. That was intentional. The effect this pandemic has had upon who I am as a minister and what I do as a minister is so profound I do not think I can fit it into one post. I thought it would be wrong to try and squeeze it in, as a line item, along with those other things.
I imagine most ministers have been doing a lot of work using Facebook and e-mail and phone calling. I certainly have. Just today I have started three new conversations on Facebook with men in my congregation.
I have also increased communication with folks who do not come to the church. One of my friends who I have been writing back and forth with summed up what I have been feeling beautifully.
She writes: “One aspect of these times that I’m enjoying is reclaiming my instincts and inclinations as an introvert. After all those years of being out there working at the edge of so many things, it feels comfortable and even familiar to pull back, be quiet (at least my mind and voice) .. and follow the lead of my body as it takes me to the garden, weeding, walking the dog, fixing food, etc.”
I have been working as a minister in my town since 1991. Like my friend I feel like all these years I have been “working at the edge of so many things”. I don’t regret one bit of it. Pastoring has been a wonderful life and will continue to be as I move into the future. But I am so enjoying this radical new discovery which I think I have to call introverted pastoring.
I love and miss my church family. I may be shooting myself in the foot here, but since we have been praying for authenticity, transparency and vulnerability in our church for months here goes nothin’. What I do not miss is the parade of events that was the church before Covid-19. I am loving having one on one meetings via Zoom or Facebook Live, in which I can simply relate to people without the pressure of having to do business or plan an event. I am really loving having days-long and even weeks-long theological conversations by letter (or messenger) with congregants. I have loved grocery shopping for elderly people in the congregation. I have enjoyed having the time and energy to study the Bible without having to rush through in order to prepare for the rest of the week’s events.
While many of my extroverted congregants and colleagues descry the loss of community, I feel as though I have found a new level of community which is profound, deep and rich, because it is not based around large scale social events but around individual connections.
When we finally get to be back together, I am determined to change how I pastor, no matter what the cost, to reflect this new model of introverted pastoring. I do not know yet what all the changes will look like. I know it will involve saying yes on a permanent level to a more quiet lifestyle, but how that susses out, well, that is all part of the quiet adventure I am on.
The Frames of Our Lives
Pastor Dan is our lead Pastor. We wanted to share a few of his thoughts with you
“Changing the frame doesn’t change the picture it changes the way you look at the picture.” Author Paul Scanlon
I am afraid that way to often, we look at the picture(s) of our life through the frame of self, pain, hurt, sin, humanness, etc… Way more often than we look through the frame of God’s amazing love for us, His forgiveness, His signature on the masterpiece of our life, and His plan for us. Perhaps the frames we use have burdened the plan of His call for our life. Thus making the burden way to heavy for us to carry, way to obsolete to be relevant in this time, perhaps even too ugly for the beauty that He has created all around us.
The thoughts of my heart and soul, are now shifting to visual of His ultimate enjoyment in seeing you and I be more like Him, than the…
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A Daily Walk 4-25-20
There are several new habits I have formed over the last six weeks. One of those habits is walking for at least 30 minutes a day. Today I took my walk at 10:30 A.M. I texted Amanda and Brenda to see if they wanted to come, but Amanda fell asleep and Brenda’s back was feeling a little out of joint this morning, so I walked by myself today. Here are some pictures I took on the way.
LAUNCHING IN 5,4,3,2…. | Notes From the Vicarage
The Bridge Artistic Network has just officially been LAUNCHED as a FACEBOOK Group! It is for artist of every ilk and all ages. We all remember what it felt like starting out…and we know what it feels like being where we are…COME JOIN THE COMMUNITY AND ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION…And Help each other to GROW AND…
— Read on notesfromthevicarage.com/2020/04/23/launching-in-5432/
LAUNCHING IN 5,4,3,2….
The Bridge Artistic Network has just officially been LAUNCHED as a FACEBOOK Group! It is for artist of every ilk and all ages. We all remember what it felt like starting out…and we know what it feels like being where we are…COME JOIN THE COMMUNITY AND ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION…And Help each other to GROW AND THRIVE!
If you know me, you know I have a heart filled up with love for artists. I want them to know they are cherished, that their work, their gifts, their talents and abilities have great purpose and value!
I mean can you imagine trying to weather the storm of COVID19 with out the arts and entertainment? What about falling in love or going through a break up with out music, or even just a long drive by yourself? What would life be like without theater, dance movies, television? What about painting, drawing, poetry, writing…Sculpting, Sewing, quilting, costuming, cooking…THE LIST OF STYLES AND KINDS IS ALMOST ENDLESS!
While COVID 19 says we must practice social distancing (Because we love each other enough to stay away!), we need not feel alone or useless. SO LET YOUR CREATIVE FLAGS FLY FREE AND JOIN US ON FACEBOOK at
The Bridge Artsitic Network and become a vital part of the conversation!
#whywaittocreate
Can’t wait to see what is about to happen!!!
See you at the Bridge!
Brenda J.
The Trouble With New | Notes From the Vicarage
We read “His mercies are NEW every morning.” We hear “You learn something NEW every day.” We know He is doing a NEW thing and right now it is springing forth! NEW. Everything is made NEW! Today is a NEW day! We want NEW clothes, a NEW car, a NEW house, a NEW job! We…
— Read on notesfromthevicarage.com/2020/04/21/the-trouble-with-new/
The Trouble With New
We read “His mercies are NEW every morning.”
We hear “You learn something NEW every day.”
We know He is doing a NEW thing and right now it is springing forth!
NEW. Everything is made NEW!
Today is a NEW day!
We want NEW clothes, a NEW car, a NEW house, a NEW job!
We say we want to go in a NEW direction.
~
It’s not a lie, we do desire the NEW. We long to step out of our ordinary into the EXTRAORDINARY.
The trouble with NEW is that in order to reach out for the NEW thing, we need to let go of the OLD. That old comfortable pair of shoes that has taken us this far down the pilgrm road, needs to be tossed into the bin. We need to cast off the OLD to embrace the NEW.
The trouble with NEW is that it’s uncomfortable. And for those comfort-seekers among us, NEW doesn’t feel right, even when we know it is.
The trouble with NEW is that it requires great FAITH to begin the journey.
It requires a HOPE to believe the impossible is possible.
It requires a JOY that makes our strength unstoppable.
It requires a LOVE for others, that is greater than our own desires for safety and comfort.
~
The trouble with NEW is that, to get from the ordinary to the EXTRAORDINARY, you have to do something EXTRA. You must study EXTRA hard, delve EXTRA deep, go the EXTRA mile.
So- Are you ready for the journey of a lifetime? To go from the ordinary to the EXTRAORDINARY? Because the trouble with NEW is that it requires your LIFE -AS A LIVING SACRIFICE.
Life By the Bells
Many years ago, after taking a course called 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, I started planning out my week using an agenda. Over the years I have adapted a shorthand that helps keep me on track throughout the week. My agenda looks like this.
It’s pretty simple really and covers everything from sleep to daily exercise and even prayer.
I found that just writing down what I planned to do in a weekly agenda did not help me to do the things I planned. The agenda helped me to keep track of my meetings ( which as a pastor is important, you don’t want to be missing funerals or weddings), but as far as the big rocks went (the disciplines of everyday living I valued like prayer or exercise) just writing them on a weekly to do calendar did not help me prioritize them. I found it too easy to let the work of ministry supplant the everyday disciplines because the work seemed so much more urgent than the time spent in the things I valued for my personal life.
Then I got a smart phone and I discovered two things: the Bible App and the timer/stopwatch app. I had heard how monks lived by a series of bells telling them when to go to certain activities and when to move on from that activity to the next one. Of course we all did that in school didn’t we? I personally loved when the lunch bell rang.
I tried it where my personal disciplines were concerned. When it came time for prayer, I would set my timer for twenty minutes and when it rang I could go on to the next activity…or I could set it for another twenty minutes, if I had nothing pressing me, and pray some more. But while the clock was counting down precious few things were allowed to interrupt me from my timed task.
Soon I was using the timer to time my exercise sessions, my reading sessions my writing sessions and even my housework. I found living by the bells had two advantages: For some reason the idea of doing a timed task made me more committed to the task and less likely to allow myself to be interrupted. Also, if I found myself not wanting to do a task, telling myself I only had to do it until the bell rang made the task more palatable somehow.
It still took work and time, trial and failure, but life by the bells has worked for me. As we have shut ourselves in during this time of quarantine, life by the bells has helped me organize and structure my days even while I do not have the big events like church services or worship practices or community events to attend to.
How do you structure you daily life?
Living In This New Space
I’ve had a revelation: The world has changed. That has changed the Vicarage. It has also changed everyone who lives in The Vicarage.
My life before the shut in was busy. My life “shut in” is also busy but it is filled with different things and a different kind of busyness now. This busyness feels slower more evenly rhythmic than the busyness from before.
Now that I am mostly recovered from pneumonia my days start early again and they have fallen into a repeating meter: I walk and feed the dogs sometime between 4 and 6 A.M. I pray for an hour or so. I have breakfast with the Fam. Then I do chores until noon. At noon I make lunch for Mom and the Fam and we eat together. I pray again. I take a short nap or do some more chores depending on my level of weariness. I walk the dogs at 3 P.M. I start dinner and start writing (usually I start with blogs and then I do editing on the novel). I start dinner and then have supper with the Fam. Sometimes after supper we play a card game or watch a little TV and then I go back to writing and I usually write until 10 or 11 and then close the day off with prayer.
Brenda’s schedule usually dogs mine. So we end up doing a lot of things together. That has been really good as it has given us lots of time to talk as we plot our separate ministry courses and the renovations of the Vicarage which we now co-own. Here are some of the projects we have been working on since the Shut In.
Notes From the Vicarage 