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BestPractices
 October 22, 2009
Loren in capThis morning my associate, Bob McGhee, wished me a "Happy Great Disapointment Day". So I pass the greetings along to you. Let's hope we don't need to wait too much longer for Jesus to come!

Please remember Monte Sahlin's strategic planning webinar class coming up, October 28. It isn't too late to join. We'll do a few more webinar classes if this one goes as well as I expect it to.

I often hear about some of the things you pastors are doing, and I'm so impressed with your creativity. I'd like to know what you're doing in ministry,  ideas others might like to try. Even if you're not a writer, or are short of time, contact me and we'll figure out a painless way to share your ideas and insights.

Blessings
Loren Seibold
IN THIS ISSUE
Pastor: Michael Campbell says Happy Birthday
Reading: A dramatic development for Anglicans
Media: Jose Rojas
Quotes: "To be bursting with thanksgiving is a true witness of the Spirit within us."
News & ideas: Plain White T's sing about love
Events: BP Webinar on strategic planning
Practicing Pastor
Michael CampbellThe Happy Birthday Phone Call
Michael Campbell, Rocky Mountain Conference

Several years ago when I attended a large church in a large Adventist community I was surprised when the senior pastor of the church we attended called me up to wish me a happy birthday. In the past I had received form letters from pastors of large churches, and for most of my experience growing up in smaller churches I don't remember anyone ever wishing me a happy birthday. It isn't that it is that big of a deal. But, it was nice to know that someone remembered. And that person happened to be my pastor. So I decided that if I ever had the privilege to pastor that was something I wanted to emulate.

Over the past two years I've now had an opportunity to experiment. I've found it to be a wonderful way to connect with both my regular as well as backslidden members. I'll never forget the first couple of weeks when I still was learning the names of my church members. I was able to get a list of birthdays from an old church directory. I started hunting for current phone numbers for some of them. During the first month I was able to talk to at least a dozen church members who had stopped attending church a long time ago. One person asked me how many years I had been the new pastor - an obvious clue that they had not been in church for quite some time. One of the first individuals I called, unbeknown to me, was a young person. I didn't get a hold of her, but left a voice mail message letting her know that her church family was thinking of her on her birthday. To this day she still tells me that was a transformational event because in a tangible way it meant for her that her church family cared about her.

After a short while I went ahead and populated my Outlook calendar with all of the birthdays that I could find. Now they pop up automatically. And in my church of about 240 members that averages out to about 5 phone calls a week. Often it doesn't take more than 15-20 minutes of time during my week, but it gives me an excuse to stay in touch with my church members. I find that church members respond in a variety of different ways - but even the ones who are the quietest I discover later through other people that they really appreciate the gesture. I have yet to find someone who doesn't want to be remembered on their birthday (except maybe for the possibility that an older woman may not want to be reminded of her age!). But with some common sense this is a great way to make your ministry even more effective.

Michael writes at Pastor Soup's Blog.
Reading For Pastors
This may prove to be among the most dramatic developments in Christianity in centuries:
Another great essay by Tom K. at Patterns of Ink: Two words that can be either wonderful, or terrible, depending on the context.

Seth McBee at Contend Earnestly has a thoughtful piece on faith and reason. Quote: "Faith without reason is foolish, reason without faith is pointless and damning."

Christianity Today reviews the new movie, "The Invention of Lying". Quote: "As I've read about this film I've gained the impression that it is intended to be a jab at religion (and, some have said, at Christianity in particular). I didn't sense that while watching, though. It seemed rather a touching depiction of the human desire to know something more - the mysterious sense we are born with that this life is not all there is (see Eccl. 3:11b). Because, in fact, we are not unable to doubt."

From the author of Tuesdays with Morrie: Mitch Albom's life lessons. Quote: "Faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe"

Are you ever surprised at how much the saints know about the church, but how little about basic Christianity? Apparently that's a problem all over. Many churches are using the Alpha series, and finding it helpful. More information here.

Might evangelicals be backing off from the political involvement of the past decades? A conference at Gordon-Conwell suggests that. Quote: "Some evangelicals are taking little comfort these days in successes of the past two decades, which included hundreds of mushrooming megachurches and the advancement of a socially conservative agenda under former President George W. Bush. Too often, they say, Christians came to display un-Christian behavior in the public square and did their disciple-making cause a disservice. 'Beware the escalation of extremism,' Os Guinness said. 'Christian sayings such as, "love your enemies "- they're forgotten. People are attacking their enemies, [but] they're certainly not on the side of Jesus in this.'"
Featured Media
Commune with God on an entirely new level as you are assisted with a variety of prayer experiences in this prayer room at New Hope Church. Feel free to adapt any of these experiences or invent new ones as you create a prayer room in your faith community.

Did you miss out on the 2009 Adventist Urban Congress sponsored by the NAD Adventist Community Services? If so you missed all the fellowship of this tribe of passionate commuity organizers. However you can still watch many of the annotated video recordings of the presentations at the Vervent Online Training Videos. For example, listen to Jose Rojas as he shares his love for urban people.
To the Point

"To be bursting with thanksgiving is a true witness of the Spirit within us. For the voice of thanksgiving speaks without ceasing of the goodness of God. It claims nothing. It sees no merit in man's receiving but only in God's giving. It marvels at his mercy. It is the language of joy because it need look no longer to its own resources. The Christian rejoicing in this blessing of a thankful heart will have his eyes fixed upon the right person and the right place, Christ at God's right hand. He cannot be taken up with himself without being immediately reminded that everything he possesses is the gift of God."
  - R.C. Lucas, The Message of Colossians and Philemon

"Christianity is more than a hope, however glorious. It is, even now, 'Christ in you'! Full salvation belongs to the last day, but a real salvation belongs to the Christian here and now. If a believer cannot yet say that he is free from the presence of sin, he certainly should be able to say that he is free from the penalty of sin. And by God's grace, it is his daily privilege to find Christ at work in him saving him from the downward pull of sin."
  - R.C. Lucas, The Message of Colossians and Philemon

"The nearest place to the gate of heaven is the throne of the heavenly grace. Much alone, and you will have much assurance; little alone with Jesus, your religion will be shallow, polluted with many doubts and fears, and not sparkling with the joy of the Lord. Since the soul-enriching path of prayer is open to the very weakest saint; since no high attainments are required; since you are not bidden to come because you are an advanced saint, but freely invited if you be a saint at all; see to it, dear reader, that you are often in the way of private devotion. Be much on your knees, for so Elijah drew the rain upon famished Israel's fields."
  -  Charles Spurgeon, Morning & Evening
News, Ideas & Reminders

  • From Lynetta Murdoch: A Quick Quiz on Formal Worship - Who said: "The evil of formal worship cannot be too strongly depicted"? It was Ellen G. White! You'll find the quote in 9T143. She also wrote in PP 523, "Open apostasy would not be more offensive to God than hypocrisy and formal worship." - (from Evangelism News of Australian Conference, July 23, 2008.)
  • Recomended software: Milton Adams recommends Xmarks plug-in for (windows, firefox, and safari), which updates bookmarks between all your browser on the same computer and between multiple computers. Also, Zotero is a wonderful Firefox program/plug-in that allows you to capture and file entire web pages - helpful when content is always changing and you want to electronically capture and file an article.
  • Comments on the H1N1 emergency:
    • Greg Brothers: "1. Wash your hands. 2. If you get sick, stay home. 3. Make sure there's hand-sanitizer in the Fellowship Hall for potlucks. (But you did that anyway, right?) 4. If they close schools, close church. 5. And don't shake hands with people you dislike - you can blame it on the threat of flu."
    • Jeannette Dare: "As a member of Pennsylvania's Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster, and Interfaith Response Group I am kept up to date by the Center for Disease Control through the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. See this guide "H1N1 Flu: A Guide for Community and Faith-based Organizations" available on line. Go to Section F:  "Meetings and Religious Gatherings." 
    • Ken Lockwood: "Have you ever stopped to watch just how many of us lick our fingers regularly as we go through potluck lines, handling each serving spoon, and while we eat? Have we never learned to use napkins?... Coughing/sneezing into the elbow, rather than into hands is catching on, too."
Got a tool, resource, site, article, idea or seminar that you like a lot? Share it with us at BestPractices@ameritech.net.
Upcoming NAD Events

Do you have an event you'd like to invite NAD pastors to? Send details to BestPractices@Ameritech.net.
Best Practices is a Vervent publication of NAD CHURCH RESOURCE CENTER. Editor: Loren Seibold, Senior Pastor, Worthington Ohio Seventh-day Adventist Church. E-mail: Best Practices. You are free to republish pieces from Best Practices in your own newsletter or blog, with attribution to the Best Practices newsletter and the author of the piece.