62059

new_week_new_month


august is upon us which means we are a month away from the madness of a new school year! there is still a ton to do in the meantime...here's what august looks like:

• half-marathon in providence next sunday (check out the progress in the running journal)
• amy starts a new schedule at work which gives her more time in the middle of the week (and more time for students)
• fundraising/networking: lots of phone calls and letter writing
• staff disc retreat, should be super interesting
• reading as many books as possible

Good things but I can't wait for September!

61559

27_years

every time you sign in to facebook it asks "what is on your mind?" i wrote a little tribute to my dad a few weeks ago and as I process the last month and this past weekend (my parent's final Sunday at SVCC) one thing (among others) i've been fixating on is 27 years.

i just finished a book on the plane called Quitter. the author argues against our culture of quitting and tells many stories of the numerous jobs he's quit and the lessons he's learned along the way. it was a good book that reflects many patterns in my own story. next summer will mark 10 years since i graduated from pacific (undergrad). since that time i have had 4 different ministry roles, lived in 3 different states, moved six times, and held five different part time jobs. i haven't stayed in any of the places, roles, or jobs for more than 4 years.

my dad was the pastor of SVCC for 27 years. that's 8 to 9 times longer than anything I've done in my entire life. now that I am into my thirties I suddenly crave and value stability. i yearn to be somewhere doing the same thing for 10 years. and that's still just over a third of the time my parent's dedicated to salinas valley. 

when i think about my parents there is a lot i admire: their integrity, character, marriage, passion, faithfulness...i could go on. but their commitment to a place and a community for 27 years is remarkable in this day and age. 

i had a chance once to have breakfast with shane claiborne. the thing i will never forget from that experience was shane sharing with us a conversation he had with the great john m. perkins. shane recalls asking dr. perkins when he first saw progress and change in the community john served in. perkins replied "oh, after about the first ten years." whoa!!! his point: commit and stay in a place if you want to be radical and change the world.

again, i could on and on about things i admire in mom and dad. choosing full-time ministry is radical. taking a two year old to india for a year is radical. moving somewhere new and planting a church is radical. but staying there for 27 years is maybe the most radical thing a person can do in modern america. and to do it all with dignity and character is even more compelling and challenging. 

so, today, i'm thinking about 27 years.

61059

the_hiddenness_of_ministry (friday_reflections)

we recently walked through an exercise called the 360 review with the sojourn and reunion staffs. the process was fun, interesting, challenging, and affirming as we got feedback on our strengths and weaknesses from those we lead, work alongside of, and who lead us.

a couple of things struck me, not the least is that even among those we work with the closest, ministry (what we actually do on a day to day basis) can be hard to define and even harder to see. i grew up in the church, and as a pastors kid, i've heard all the jokes about how great it must be to be a pastor (because you only have to work on sundays!).

that of course is not true (or at least it better not be), but it can be really easy to mistake our public work for our only work. even for the teachingest of teaching pastors, the majority of the work we do is listening, learning from from people, serving alongside others, and being attentive to the needs of our community. it is not glamorous and the majority never get to see it. and it can be hard to talk about if we are honest. 

we share "wins" at the beginning of each staff meeting and this is really great as it helps us "see" what is happening all across the ministry, but there is so much that gets left out too. not every interaction, every cup of coffee, every challenging conversation, every "get it" moment gets to be shared. not even our co-workers get to see all that we do. and sometimes that can be frustrating.

the reality is a good portion of what pastors do never gets noticed. we can begrudgingly acknowledge it and probably feel a little cynical about this reality, or we can joyfully accept the mystery of the hidden work we do and see it as an opportunity for growth in humility that is built in to our vocation. 

the other side of this is that "hiddenness" protects our vocation and leaves us with something authentic to offer others. no one has said this better than henri nouwen, so i'll end this post with his thoughts from reaching out:

"there is a false form of honesty that suggests that nothing should remain hidden and that everything should be said, expressed and communicated. this honesty can be very harmful, and if it does not harm, it at least makes the relationship flat, superficial, empty, and often very boring. when we try to shake off our loneliness by creating a milieu without limiting boundaries, we may become entangled in a stagnating closeness.

"it is our vocation to prevent the harmful exposure of our inner sanctuary, not only for our own protection but also as a service to our fellow human beings with whom we want to enter in a creative communion. just as words lose their power when they are not born out of silence, so openness loses its meaning when there is no ability to be closed."

58959

seasons (friday_reflections)

**some friday thoughts on seasons (on a monday to boot). another disclaimer: i don't usually like cheesy metaphors, but hang with me, this is real!**

this is my fifth winter of snow, my fifth calendar year with four distinct seasons. winter is hard...especially now that we are getting in to what i call "dirty winter." (dirty winter is when you have a nasty mixture of brown/black snow and ice along with trash, debris, salt, and a bunch of other junk..it's gross).

winter is hard, but i love living with seasons. just when you think you can't handle any more snow, spring comes and the cycle continues. here in new england i think we all wish spring and fall lasted a little longer, but there is something comforting and even spiritual about the natural rhythm produced by the changing seasons.

i kind of like that winter is hard. not to over spiritualize things but we go through difficult seasons...we have seasons of "dirty winter" that are just gross...or we go through times that are just challenging...we long for spring...for something new...for rebirth. this is not a new metaphor.

i have almost been on staff with Sojourn for two years. so far, it's been a great time, but a lot of it could be characterized as a winter season. we've spent a lot of time doing "winter" things...hidden things...under the radar things. things like simplifying and clarifying our language and process. and things like getting organized. and things like investing in a smaller number of leaders and students. frustrating things. things that don't always fit with the ideal of "growth."

but now we are in a spring season...lots of growth, energy, excitement, etc. and this is great. in fact, this semester has been the most fun for me so far. 

as we continue to grow and work through the implications of "more" and the tension of remaining organic and relational, i know that there will be even harder "falls" and "winters" ahead. new challenges and new ways to experience the seasonal cycle. 

but that's what seasons are all about: growth, life, enjoyment, struggle, death, rebirth. repeat. and repeat. and repeat again. success isn't about extending a spring or a summer indefinitely but about being faithful in each of the seasons with what each one requires.

and i like that. i like seasons.

38559 Day 192

idaho_pt_2


i realize i haven't explained what i am doing in idaho at all.  we're here (some of us from both sojourn and reunion) to learn from a church that is doing discipleship and small groups really well.  one of our "mother" organizations thought this would be a good experience for us (and they were probably right...despite my not so hot attitude about it).


anyway, every time i got to something like this i tend to run in to someone i know from some other chapter of my life.  i mentioned this off to one of the guys on the way in and not more than two minutes later i ran into will hoffman (svcc friend).  turns out he's on staff at this church now.  small world.

30259 Day 110

legit

thinking about this...

...also, a big storm is coming, more on that tomorrow

17159 big_decisions_&_new_life_directions

i've been teasing out big family news for a while now. sorry for the delay.  i also realize that sarah is going to have a baby at any moment, news which may trump this post (for good reason).  nonetheless, now is the time to fill everyone in on our plans.

big decision #1

we have decided to stay in boston for the foreseeable future.  at one point we thought/planned on leaving when amy was done with school, but we feel like the city is really becoming home and we want to stay.  so stay we will!

big decision #2

and this is the main thrust of this post: we have decided to go on staff with sojourn collegiate ministry (well, steve is going on staff, officially, but amy is pretty into it too).  many details, regarding what this will look like and what we'll be doing, are still falling into place.  however, i thought i'd share something i wrote for our fundraising materials to provide a bit of insight in to our vision for this opportunity:

"We feel that living in the unique urban environment of Boston provides us with an amazing opportunity to use our gifts to serve the Kingdom of God. On the one hand, Boston boasts many of the finest institutions of higher education and some of the richest history our country has to offer. On the other, Boston also struggles with some of our nations darker historical realities, such as class and racial inequality, and failing public schools, which leave many of its own sons and daughters without access to its colleges and universities. Boston is the least and the greatest, the haves and the have-nots, often times separated by nothing more than a train track or a freeway.

Is there a way to bridge these worlds that so often feel too far apart? We believe that there is. This is why we choose to intentionally live in the forgotten neighborhoods of Boston. It is why we serve students at Boston University and the other schools around the city. We hope to be living examples of an integrated, kingdom lifestyle and to inspire students to experiment with and aspire to similar life commitments."

i hope that vision resonates with you at some level and that you will commit to praying for me and amy and the sojourn team as we work together to make this happen.  i'll be sending out emails to people i hope will partner with us in prayer, but if you already know you want in leave a comment, or send me an email (rmps59@yahoo.com) or facebook message, and you will begin to receive handy updates on a regular basis.  

also, questions are more than welcome!  thank you everyone, especially those of who have been reading and praying with me here for a long time...you are much appreciated.

(ps - 3909 - check out this article for an idea of the needs in the part of the country)