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 "There is a saying that to understand is to forgive, but that is an error, so Papa used to say. You must forgive in order to understand. Until you forgive, you defend yourself against the possibility of understanding. ... If you forgive, he would say, you may indeed still not understand, but you will be ready to understand, and that is the posture of grace." ~ Marilynne Robinson  |
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WHOM CAN THE CHURCH HELP?
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 By Loren Seibold, editor, Best Practices for Adventist Ministry She had her first baby at 13, after being raped by her brother-in-law. It was taken away by the state. Two more, at 14 and 15, with the same fate. At 16 she briefly married, long enough to have another three. Men of a certain type have come and gone quickly through her life. Someone brings her to church, where I get her contact information and visit her. She and her children live in a way that's hard for me to understand: filthy, lots of old stuff spread over house and yard like trash. Yet they seem content. I have to draw her story out of her, not because she is embarrassed by it, but because she hasn't the insight to know it's unusual. It is clear to me that everything that happened at church, much less the fairly elementary ideas she heard me preach there, are as incomprehensible to her as if it had all been in Mandarin. The lives of even ordinary working-class people in the congregation are unimaginably above her aspirations. She has stayed alive for the past 20 years by the largess of the state and a talent for bare survival. I don't even know what to say, so I listen attentively, pray with her, and leave.
On my way home, I wonder, what could we possibly do? What can we expect God to do? She's as emotionally and intellectually crippled as a person born without arms and legs is physically. Even the humblest in my church are high achievers in comparison (and I could tell that even they didn't warm to her.) I can't imagine any role for her in the congregation other than as a recipient of charity, which would motivate some at first, but everyone will tire of it when they realize she's a black hole of needs, and their help isn't moving her beyond where she is now. The clothes they give will be ruined, the food and money wasted, the car wrecked, the opportunities squandered, she'll quit coming to church, and they'll say, "What's the point?"
It makes me terribly sad. I've spent my life surrounded by people who work, who have education and health care, who read books, who aspire to better things (and who get depressed if they don't get the promotion or raise they want, who feel like failures if someone else has a nicer house or car or their kids don't do well.) I've seldom been around people like her, and I'm chagrined to say that I don't really want to be. As she's crippled in knowing how to deal with the world of responsibility and work, we're crippled in knowing how to help her.
We have high standards in what we expect people to be able to learn, to experience spiritually, and the quality of life we want them to achieve. What about those who just can't? I am certain God has a place for them in His heart. But do we have a place for them in the church? I pray for her, but I'm not Jesus: I can't reach out my hand and fix her life, though I wish I could. How do we avoid being smug, like Pharisees looking down their noses at the poor widow or the man born blind, when in God's eyes were all damaged?
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ON TALKING POLITICS IN CHURCH
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 By Bruce Blum, Northern California Conference I like to think of myself as a reasonable pastor. But I get upset when people in church make negative comments about their most feared political candidate, such as, "Well, we know we're all in for it when Obama gets elected," or something similar about any other candidate. Maybe it's because I know people in church who voted for the candidate being criticized, and who appear to me to be as faithfully following Christ as those who make such statements. Then there's the assumption that in an Adventist church we're all Republicans. I have many conservative political views, but I don't identify myself by any political party label because the labels don't fit me. I'm surprised at Adventists who talk as though there was a political solution to our nation's problems at all, let alone one that falls along party lines. (Besides, in our Adventist eschatological picture, don't we teach that we have more to fear from social conservatives enacting Sunday laws than from liberals?) Of course people have their political loyalties, but to speak in a disrespectful way of our president, making fun of his name, talking about him as if he could single-handedly ruin the country if he tried - these things seem so childish. Haven't you got any serious character growth issues in your own life to be concerned about that are more urgent than getting a few laughs off of making jokes about a person you don't even know, and who has an incredibly difficult job? Maybe that's the other thing that bothers me about it. Whenever someone spends a significant amount of time or energy blaming someone else (even politicians) for their woes and problems, I can't help but suspect they're trying to cover up their own failings. We needn't expect the problems of the world to be solved by someone else. We Christians have got a life. Let's live for something, instead of just against something. Save your energy and breath for making a difference. Okay. Rant over. Reactions? If you agree with me, how should we pastors and church leaders handle incidents when someone makes public politically denigrating statements in church or from the pulpit? Discuss this topic with Bruce on our Best Practices Facebook page.  |
| SHOULD YOU HIRE A FUNDRAISING CONSULTANT? | 
By Lilya Wagner
Sometimes it's necessary for a pastor and a church committee to acquire the services of a consultant. While Philanthropic Service for Institutions (PSI) can provide many resources and much hands-on assistance such as in planning, training of boards and volunteers, providing sample materials or reviewing your own materials, there are some vital steps in a campaign are beyond the scope of PSI's staff time and resources. Sometimes more hands-on help is needed when implementing specific fundraising efforts.
Hiring a fund raising consultant is a major decision and may have a significant impact on the success of your program. A consultant or consulting firm may provide several types of services, and you will need to determine exactly what your needs are so your money is well spent. For example, if you're engaging in a capital campaign, you may benefit from an objective evaluation process called the feasibility study, which includes internal and external interviews and result in suggestions of whether or not you can raise the amount of money you desire. Other ways that a consultant may be needed are in technical expertise, training of boards and volunteers, evaluating gift markets, helping prepare materials, and in coaching personnel involved in fundraising.
When it is desirable to hire a consultant, first and most importantly, consult with PSI. We keep a list of consultants who have been approved and have a successful track record of working well and understanding faith-based institutions, particularly Adventist. We will advise you on what type of consultant you might hire, what to investigate since you will be paying the bill (this is a business transaction, after all), what questions to ask, how to determine a track record of success, and also give you some referrals. Then you can make an intelligent decision regarding the hiring and use of a consultant.
Who might be a consultant? There are major companies who work with faith-based organizations, there are "solo performers" which are one-person organizations and contract with others as needed, and there are those who position themselves as consultants when actually their experience is limited and credentials are scarce. We cannot urge strongly enough-while consultants are valuable, the services and credentials of consultants vary across the map, literally and figuratively speaking, and if you're not careful, you could be paying for bad advice or even very little service. There is little uniformity among consultants and their services, including their fees; therefore it truly pays to be the knowledgeable and savvy "buyer" of their services.
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READING FOR PASTORS
| A sign of troubled times: Rick Warren cancels presidential candidate forum. Quote: "The forums are meant to be a place where people of goodwill can seriously disagree on significant issues without being disagreeable or resorting to personal attack and name-calling. But that is not the climate of today's campaign. ... It would be hypocritical to pretend civility for one evening only to have the name-calling return the next day."
Can this be true: that there are over 5000 multi-site churches in the US? (Could we call our many multi-church districts multi-site?)
Seth Godin - thrice:How successful people start the day. Quote: "Don't check your email for the first hour. Seriously. Stop that."
Amazing chutzpah in this day and age: Riveride County apparently banned churches from a developing wine country area, triggering (not surprisingly) lawsuits. (They're reconsidering the ban).
What is the entry point for Adventist church membership? According to this piece, those entry points are changing across the Christian community.
Dallas Willard on the secret to satisfaction in ministry.
Powerful piece on holy friendships. Quote: "Holy friends challenge the sins we have come to love, affirm the gifts we are afraid to claim and help us dream dreams we otherwise would not dream."
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TO THE POINT: FORGIVENESS
| "People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."
~ Mother Teresa
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."
~ Oscar Wilde
"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you."
~ C.S. Lewis
"Any fool knows men and women think differently at times, but the biggest difference is this. Men forget, but never forgive; women forgive, but never forget."
~ Robert Jordan
"One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory."
~ Rita Mae Brown
"Forgiveness has nothing to do with absolving a criminal of his crime. It has everything to do with relieving oneself of the burden of being a victim--letting go of the pain and transforming oneself from victim to survivor."
~ C.R. Strahan |
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IDEAS, EVENTS, RESOURCES, ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Humor: OK, this is just too funny. A Bible theme park in Israel has equipped its donkeys with wifi routers!
It is Written goes on radio, gets a new name.
Community services stories:
Previous resource links:
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Best Practices for Adventist Ministry is published by NAD Ministerial. Editor:Loren Seibold . Managing Editor: Dave Gemmell. Copyright 2012 North American Division Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists. v(301) 680-6418
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