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- i have had an interesting journey this last week...the theme sems to be opportunities...here’s a snapshot...

...monday through thursday was spent, in part, preparing for and helping to pull off the annual fall fundraiser for the manna house. i’ve had the opportunity to serve on the board for six months now and i’ve struggled with my participation there for the following reasons:

a) i’m two decades younger than anyone else on the board
b) i have had a short term of service
c) i’ve never served on a board before and i’ve struggled with board “culture”
d) serving on the board seems to be a distraction from what is really important to me, namely building relationships with the clients

...but on thursday we raised over $9,000 and put on a great event...i got to show my promo video and meet a lot of the volunteers that make manna happen. new ideas are starting to surface...in a forrest gump moment i became the chairman of the planning committee and i’m starting to see how that influence can be leveraged. a month ago i saw little purpose for board membership but now i’m seeing how hanging in there with this opportunity could lead to some really cool things...

...friday i found out that a seemingly promising job opportunity fell through. by my count, this is the third serious job opportunity that hasn’t worked out here in durango. each opportunity would have altered (i.e. diminished) my role with the church. on friday and saturday i was pretty bummed, wondering why this opportunity had even come up and if i’d ever “get my chance.”

...back to thursday: chip and i met to do our yearly ctk staff evaluations...i’ve always struggled with feeling underutilized in my various ministry opportunities, but i left that meeting realizing that i’ve grossly underestimated my role in what is happening with our church community.

...sunday: rick snodgrass (head of ctk-usa) was in town last night to hang out with us and strengthen our connection with “headquarters.” rick is a super-encouraging man with an amazing story of his own. it was awesome to hear about how the ctk story continues to unfold in colorado (new mexico!), washington, and around the world. rick continually used the word “movement” to describe the ctk story.

...the thought i’m left with after all of this is that it is a privilege to play a role in this story...to be, in some small way, a part of a movement...and that this is my opportunity and i couldn’t be any more grateful for it.

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random updates...

- current reading...
* Finishing "The Jesus Way" by Eugene Peterson (the chapters on David/imperfection and Isaiah/holiness are just fantastic)
* Finished "Leading from the Second Chair"
* Started "Generation What: Dispatches from the Quarter-Life Crisis"

- current watching...
* the season finale of Lost was great...helped to redeem a meandering and sometimes even boring season

- current listening...
* arcade fire "neon bible" (keep the car running is a song that i can't stop listening to)
* elliott smith "new moon"
* rocky votolato (pretty much everything he's got)
* otis redding "best of"

- taste of durango raised somewhere around $17,000 for the manna house which is fantastic news!

- church barbeque tonight!

05959

what a day! today was a huge community event called "Taste of Durango." several blocks on main street get shut down and all these retaraunts from town come out and set up shop and sell their excellent wares. aside from a fun, huge community event the tase of durango (or TOD if you are an insider) benefits the Manna House (the soup kitchen we've been volunteering at). last year this event raised almost $15,000 for Manna...and this year probably more.

the day went really well...most of CTK-Durango's members were involved in one way or another. in particular, we are all really proud of ruth because, as the manna program director, a lot of the responsibility for pulling this event off fell on her. she spent months planning for it, recruited and coordinated 200 volunteers, and then oversaw the whole operation today. she did an amazing job!

the rest of us checked people in, sold tokens, and patrolled the streets in green shirts. the security task force (which you will see below) ensured the safety of the good citizens of our town...and we also ate a lot of great food.

i am really proud of our church for all of the ways we were involved in helping out with this event...this is exactly the kind of thing we want to do...bringing the church to our community instead of asking them to come to us.

also, as a manna board member (somehow this week i became the chairman of the planning committee) it was so awesome to see our church represent so well.

manna is on the web too http://mannasoupkitchen.org/

ps...two of our guys (shaggy and ron) were not able to make it to church today because they were "evicted" from their campsite...an interesting juxtaposition...while we need events like TOD to make the manna house happen there is still so much else to be done.

the security task force:

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here are a few quotes that have been pushing my thinking lately...

1) this is from an interview with kieran kelly, a music producer who's worked with the likes of sufjan stevens and others in the indie rock scene...he's talking about how his faith informs his work and how easy it is for him to turn conversations to the spiritual.

"That is one of the great things that music does to people; it tends to be a much more open environment to be able to have discussions. As opposed to working in an office where if someone was a drug addict or had some sort of extreme lifestyle, it'd be hidden from public view, in a rock 'n' roll setting, everything goes."

i love this quote and it's implications for our church...i hope ctk-durango will always be more rock 'n' roll than stuffy office.

2) if i could i would probably quote shane claiborne's entire book (the irresistible revolution), but here's something i've definitely been experiencing...shane writes: "it is a beautiful thing when folks in poverty are no longer just a missions project but become genuine friends with whom we laugh, cry, dream, and struggle."

this really hit home for me last week. we've been serving at the manna house (the local soup kitchen) and making a lot of friends with some of the "regulars." last tuesday there was a going away party for one of the employees, and i was invited, but couldn't come until about half an hour into the festivities. when i walked in i was immediately confronted with an interesting scenario. the party had naturally organized itself into four groups. one group was comprised of well dressed older gentlemen (i learned that this was the board of directors)...another was a group of older retired couples, sweet people who serve regularly at the kitchen...the third group was made up of a few middle aged folks, again faithful volunteers...

and then the fourth group was jim, james, randall, and two other "clients" sitting by themselves in the corner. i went and sat with them and was simultaneously welcomed and chastised..."what are you doing hanging out with us?" "don't you realize this isn't the happening social scene." they gave me a hard time, but also expressed genuine gratefulness that someone came and sat and ate with them.

i couldn't help thinking that these guys were the only people in the room i would call friends...what other circle of people was i really going to sit down with.

i share this story not to pat myself on the back, or to say that everyone else there was lame, but to show the reality i see behind shane's quote. it really is a beautiful thing. i didn't sit with those guys because i felt sorry for them, because i am such a great guy, or even because of some holy/guilty compulsion. plain and simple, they were the people in the room i know and who know me. beautiful.

i know a lot of church planting manuals will tell you about how to be strategic and find all these successful people to join your church and tithe big and be your elders, but somehow that seems wierd when Jesus says stuff like: "those who are last will be first...everyone who exalts himself will be humbled...when you give a banquet invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind." (see Luke 12-19).

my two deep thoughts for the week. here's to a rock 'n' roll church and jim, james, and randall.

peace