ministry life
THE LEADERSHIP RHYTHM
This week God has been speaking to me about fully embracing the rhythm of my leadership. I believe, there is a leadership rhythm that spiritual leaders must follow consistently if we are to walk in the fullness of our giftings from God. Without the consistent rhythm we will not walk in the fullness of our gifts or reach the fullness of our ministry callings.
I don’t believe that this rhythm looks the same for everyone. Each of us are called to discover the rhythm of our spiritual leadership for ourselves, and then to live it constantly We must no longer allow distractions of the world to take us away from the rhythm.
For me, this involves a rhythm of constant prayer throughout the day, everyday: Matins, Laudes, Prime, Terce, Sext None, Vespers, Compline. For me, work and the rest of life flows out of prayer and back into prayer. Prayer is the constant rhythm and it must not be allowed to stop…ever.
The Lord showed me that this rhythm is the manifestation of the armor of God for us as leaders in the church, this is why Paul says…“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground” (Ephesians 6: 11-13)
This means that letting go of the rhythm is akin to taking off the armor, and therefore not being able to stand in the day of evil against the agents of evil.
Here is the struggle I am having. I have sought God and told Him how overwhelming this thought is. I know I cannot be consistent to this level of constancy on my own. In my own nature I am too distractible, too flighty.
The Lord has sent me a quiet assurance in prayer that the rhythm is not something I accomplish on my own. It is something He accomplishes and I receive.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.Ephesians 2:10
So now I am taking time everyday to believe and receive the rhythm that is God’s gift to me and which opens up my ability to use my gifts for Him.
DO YOU HAVE A RHYTHM GOD IS TRYING TO ESTABLISH IN YOUR LIFE?
DIGGING DEEPER DEVOTIONAL AUGUST 24, 2024
DIGGING DEEPER DEVOTIONAL AUGUST 23, 2024
A BRIEF RETURN TO YOUTH MINISTRY
This summer, as my daughter entered her six weeks of radiation treatment after cancer surgery, I took over a few pieces of her church ministry. One of the ministries I have been covering this summer is youth ministry.
I was a youth minister for 19 years, but I have been retired from it for almost a decade. Which means the last time I seriously addressed this ministry I was still in my forties. Now as I approach sixty I am in a very different body than I was back then.
I knew going in that I was going to need to lean on the youth team in a way I never had before. Fortunately for everyone, my daughter has spent a good deal of time raising up a very talented and capable team of people to help lead our youth group.
This summer the brother and sister team of Trinity and Christian helped out. Trinity was our chief sound and media tech. Christian actually shared the preaching responsibilities with me and helped with games.
Troy operated as one of our games masters and an alternate media tech.
Patrick in the lower left hand corner of this picture was our worship leader.
And Pam, the lady on the right, was our chief administrator on site and called the weekly announcements for us. My daughter organized us each week, by making sure all of our supplies were set up weekly and by sending out the weekly duty roster for us. I was really just the pastoral presence in the room which was good because honestly I felt really rusty going in.
Still we managed to pull off the summer program and the fellowship trip to Kimball’s ice cream.
It was a very active summer.
We drew in some extra help for driving to the Kimball’s event. Carrie Hackett (pictured at the end of the table) stepped in with her car to help us get to Kimballs. Carrie is our adult Doing Life and outreach coordinator.
Sadie Bauver pictured here with the blue baton is one of our youth and she is finishing up the summer as our worship leader. I am finishing out the summer as the youth preacher. This has been an all hands on deck situation. I am so blessed that all the hands have risen up to help!
THE FOREST HEADING TOWARDS FALL
We have had a bit of dismal weather at The Vicarage over the last several days. The raindrops interspersed around ministry have made it a bit difficult to accomplish some of the tasks I had set for myself this week.
I still haven’t finished chopping down the brush around the chicken paddock.
It’s about half done. Maybe I’ll get it finished today so we can start building the actual paddock.
The forest creatures have not been deterred in the slightest by the weather.
If their appetites are any indication it will be an early fall.
I wrote YESTERDAY about how the sense of impending fall is giving me an urgency about the chicken projects. That, and the fact that two of the chickens have made inroads into escaping from the playpen is giving me a bit of agita. I came home from CVS this morning to find that Squash and Eggplant were sitting on top pf the netting.
The garden is still blooming though.
The cone floors are also in full bloom.
A sure sign of fall is that the Japanese Knotweed is flowering too.
Some of these stalks are ten feet tall.
And this year I have a giant patch of jewelweed growing.
I will be harvesting some of this to make an anti itch tincture for the winter.
It’s all coming along. I am enjoying the fact that I am being more consistent with the property this year. That said I am hoping I can get everything done before the weather breaks.
DO YOU HAVE A SENSE OF URGENCY CONCERNING THE WEATHER THIS YEAR?
BRENDA’S KICKSTART FROM AUGUST 12, 2024
HERE IS BRENDA’S VIDEO ABOUT DREAMCASTING
THE VICARAGE FALLS
I woke up this morning and noted that the house was chilly. For the first time in three months I can say I was cold. I was tempted to turn the heat on and then I realized….”THIS IS FALL WEATHER!”
WELL WE DON’T LOOK LIKE THAT YET! but the signs that The Vicarage is heading into an early fall are everywhere. The temperature is falling (today it is not slated to get out of the sixties around 18 for those of you who live in the metric system). Last week I noticed that the sumac in my back yard is already going orange, and the vegetables are slowing down in the garden. I have watched my YOUTUBE weather channels and they are leaning with me towards an early fall for New England.
With that knowledge, there are several mindset changes that I need to begin making:
Vicarage projects that were slated for the summer need to get done. It’s time to finish spreading the pea stone for the right hand drive. It’s time to finish the chicken paddock. It’s time to start burning that brush I collected all summer.
It’s time to get ready for the fall projects at The Vicarage. It’s almost time to put away the prayer tent and all the solar lights. It’s time to start thinking about winterizing the Vicarage again. It’s time to start thinking about what parts of the garden I will move inside. It’s time to start preparing for fall canning and freezing.
At church, fall always brings a shift in the mindset of people. Vacation is over and it’s time to get ready to get back into fall/ winter/ spring routines. Disciplines put by the wayside by many will be picked back up. As the back to school rhythm is restored some will also begin to experience a back to church rhythm. The church needs to be ready to minister to people who have been a bit out of the loop for the last twelve weeks.
We are also heading into high holiday season. Now is the time we begin making our Thanksgiving and Christmas plans. I will be on sabbatical for the month of October. This means September will be our planning month for the fall and winter holidays.
IT’S ALMOST CHRISTMAS FOLKS! WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FALL?
DIGGING DEEPER DEVOTIONAL AUGUST 20, 2024
DIGGING DEEPER DEVOTIONAL AUGUST 19, 2024
Notes From the Vicarage 