Shaking Out the Welcome Mat

Hello, all, I know it's been a long time!

I've been a little busy with the new baby, children home from school for summer vacation, travel, etc. But I have been checking in with the blog and noticed that it has been a long time since I've gotten a RingSurf request.

I decided to do a manual check, and . . . RingSurf is locked up. I can't seem to log in using our usual user name and password and the "reset password" button doesn't seem to be working, either. So we don't currently have access to the ring.

On the positive side, many of us use the blog roll more often than the web ring, anyway. So if you'd like your blog linked from here, please email PCUSAblog at gmail dotcom and send us your URL as well as a brief description of your blog. I'll add your link and welcome you here on a Monday morning.

Now on to introductions!

I'd like to introduce our newest member, Herb Swanson, who blogs at Rom Phra Khun: A Pastor's Blog.

"My name is Herb Swanson. I am the pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Lowville, NY. Rom Phra Khun is my personal blog although FPC's website links to it. The church is, of course, in no way responsible for these contents.

Rom Phra Khun is Thai. It means, literally, “in the shade of goodness/blessing” and is used in the Thai Bible to translate “grace,” as in the grace of God. It is a beautiful metaphor for that grace rooted in a semi-tropical environment where shade is a blessing. To stand in the shade of God’s grace is to stand in a cool, sheltered, and safe place. It echoes the 25 years that my wife, Warunee ("Runee"), family, and I spent in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Rom Phra Khun is meant to be a mindful, reflective playground—serious & not so serious all at one time. So, whether you come once or often, peace & blessings on the journey, Herb"

Welcome, Rev. Swanson!

Monday Blog Club - Easter!

Good morning!

Apologies for my absence. . . I was off doing this:

But now I'm back and happy to welcome the newest members of our web ring, Laila and Liz from Four for a Year!

"We are a Presbyterian pastor and a marketing consultant attempting to follow Miguel Ruiz's "Four Agreements" for one year. The agreements are: 1. Be impeccable with your word. 2. Don't make assumptions. 3. Don't take anything personally. 4. Always do your best. The agreements are about seeking truth and love in everything we do. They are not a religion in themselves, but they in fact dovetail beautifully with our Christian identity. We seek to follow Christ and to incorporate "love your neighbor as yourself" into our daily living, and the agreements can be a powerful tool to help us along that path. We initially began trying to follow the agreements while training for a half-marathon together. We'd choose one for a week and, in the wee hours of the morning as we ran, we'd talk about the experience. This task was surprisingly difficult and life changing. So life changing that we committed to following the agreements for one entire year. We decided to blog about it as a means to keep ourselves on task and to hopefully encourage others with honest (and often humorous) accounts of our experiences as we move toward a more positive and love-filled way of being."

Happy Easter!

Welcome Mat

Good morning!  I apologize for not being around much over the past few weeks. RingSurf has been temperamental, and I've been distracted with a little spring nesting.  But I'm here today with good news: we have a new member of our webring! 

I'm thrilled to welcome Abbie Watters, who blogs about her journey out of Dallas and into RETIREMENT! at "No Longer Not Your Grandfather's CPA."

In her own words:

"I am an elderly Presbyterian Elder looking at life, the Church, grandchildren, and the weather. I started this blog when my husband and I were trying to sell our house in Dallas and move to Tacoma. It was originally just an outlet to moan and groan about the state of the housing market and our lack of success in selling. Since then it has evolved into my thoughts on everything that is going on around me, and since most of what I'm interested in is going on at the church, I have opinions about that. I report on Presbytery meetings I attend, and comment on whatever tempest in a teapot is currently brewing in the church. I also talk about my grandchildren and remember family times from the past with pictures dug out of shoeboxes. Last December I did a month-long series on "Reclaiming Joy", and currently, during Lent, I'm doing a series on "Words Matter" taking my cues from the Lenten study published by the National Council of Churches. I have also recently taken up the spiritual discipline of "Praying in Color" and occasionally post my doodles. Finally, I've embarked on a long overdue diet and I'm using the blog as accountability."

Welcome, fellow Presbyterian Blogger!

Presidents' Day

A couple of years ago, after a national election, the Sunday morning pastoral prayer at my church included mention of our newly elected national and local leaders. One young member stood up immediately, walked out of the sanctuary, and confronted the pastor afterward: asking how he could violate church and state by praying for the President. 

I think perhaps this individual missed the point. As Christians, isn't it our duty to pray for our communities and our leaders?  Isn't prayer part of discernment about the paths we choose to take?  Personally, I am uncomfortable with the idea of churches controlling governments (directly or indirectly) but am quite comfortable with churches lobbying for funding addressing issues they find important (e.g. poverty, hunger, AIDS, etc.)

It's one thing for a church to tell parishioners how to vote.  It's quite another to pray for our country and its leaders.

A few thoughts about Church and State:
U.S. Constitution .net (Jefferson's Wall of Separation Letter and the The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment)
And, of course, there's always Wikipedia (Separation of church and state and Separation of church and state in the United States)

Monday Blog Club - Valentine's Day!

1. PCMK Interim Blog: light for the journey. The Presbyterian Church of Mount Kisco in ministry with Interim Pastor Jack Lohr. Recent posts include View from Session and Doing Demographics in addition to notes about upcoming programming, e.g. the Lenten "Supper and Study."
   
2. Peaceworks: Thoughts about what it means to pursue a life that includes faith, justice, peace, coherence, integrity, and sustainability. Recent posts include The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Speaks to Egyptian Protesters, This Is My Commandment (love one another), and Do You Know Who You Are? (a short, funny anecdote about humility).
   
3. Prayers4Today: Welcome to prayers4today, a place of silence, prayer, and solitude. These prayers may be used in worship settings or newsletters, with attribution please. Recent prayers (poems!) follow Matthew 4 and 5, including wordswordswords, halite, and baditudes.

This week in our adult Sunday School class we talked about how much pressure we (as individuals in our society) tend to place on VALENTINE'S DAY and how putting so much emphasis on one day sets us up for disappointment and our loved ones up for failure. We set forth this week in a spirit of loving compassion, dedicated to sharing patience and kindness with those closest to us (the same ones who frequently bear the brunt of our short tempers and outside frustrations).

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours, and a special thank you to all of our bloggers!

Monday Blog Club

Welcome to a new meeting of the Monday Blog Club! Today's three blog highlights are:

1. Occasional Sightings of the Gospel by Thom M. Shuman with "quirky, sometimes irreverent, hopefully relevant reflections on where God is working in the world and in our lives. www.ionabooks.com has published "The Jesse Tree" (Advent devotions) and www.csspub.com has published "Cradled in God's Grace", liturgies for Year A in the Revised Common Lectionary. I post liturgies @ www.lectionaryliturgies.blogspot.com & prayers @ www.prayersfortoday.blogspot.com"
   
2. Onesimus Online: history, theology, culture, the church, and other dangerous stuff by Joseph Black. "I'm presently a lecturer at Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology (part of Africa International University), and a member of the Theological Studies Department, of which I am the Acting Head of Department. I've studied history at Duke University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and the University of Cambridge. But for some reason the powers that be have me teaching theology. Go figure. My spiritual journey has taken me from the American dream to Presbyterianism to Charismatic Presbyterianism to really Reformed Presbyterianism to irenic Evangelicalism to the edge of the abyss. I am now a member of the Alexandrian Orthodox cathedral Church of Sts Cosmas and Damien in Nairobi, Kenya."
   
3. Pastor James: Thoughts on faith, musings on Scripture, plus audios and videos of sermons from Boulevard Presbyterian in Grandview Heights, an older suburb just a couple miles from downtown Columbus, OH. Add your two cents to the mix. By James Sledge, "the pastor of Boulevard Presbyterian in the Grandview Heights suburb of Columbus, Ohio. Before going to seminary in my mid-thirties, I was a corporate pilot."

We are indeed an interesting, varied bunch. Have a wonderful (and warm) week!

Member Blog Meet & Greet

Good morning and I hope you've enjoyed your Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

I bet we have lots of new members to welcome to the unofficial PC(USA) web ring this week. Welcome, all of you! Unfortunately, Ring Surf is presently unwilling to share the pending memberships awaiting approval. Alas.

So, in the meantime, if you've filled out a Ring Surf application, haven't had a formal welcome here, and don't see your blog linked in the sidebar (below, right) please let me know!

Email pcusablog AT gmail DOT com and I'll add you to the blog roll manually. (There's not much I can do about Ring Surf, unfortunately.)

After our congregational meeting today we had a retirement reception for a church volunteer. All churches depend heavily on volunteers, but this guy really went above and beyond. He served as the Clerk of Session for many years, was the director of lay ministry, ran our annual 8-week officer training course, participates on many committees, was the A/V guy, had an office with the rest of the staff (and a church email address and full time office hours) and generally always knows what's going on. He will be missed! Of course, he won't be missed - he'll still be a very active church member - but all the behind-the-scenes things he managed will now fall to other hands. As one member asked today, "what army will replace Jim?"

One of the things I most respect about Jim as a leader is his nurturing of other leaders. He was never out to control situations or amass power for himself; he is all about responsibility and encouraging others to step up into leadership roles.

Does your church have a Jim?

Monday Blog Club

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! I've had some interesting conversations with my two daughters (ages 3 and 7) about what this means.

PC(USA) Resources for Martin Luther King Day and Race Relations Sunday: In faithful witness to the love of Christ, the church is committed to confronting the ideology of racism and racial oppression, working to overcome racism with prayer, discernment and worship-based action. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Race Relations Sunday provide opportunities to celebrate the diversity of God's family.

Good morning and welcome to another Monday Blog Club!

This week I'd like to highlight three members of our blog roll.

1. NOT EXACTLY AS PREACHED: Because the Holy Spirit has something to say about it, in and out of the pulpit by St. Blogwen. The author describes himself as "an ordained minister and licensed architect. Or is it a licensed minister and ordained architect? Lately, an astonished substitute teacher. And a saint only in the First Corinthians sense of the word." As for the blog itself, "THE HOLY SPIRIT SPEAKS in the pastor's study. He also speaks to the pastor in the pulpit. These are my pulpit supply sermon texts as written and printed-- but never quite as preached." (I wonder what the text of a sermon exactly as preached would look like. Nevermind! I don't think I'd enjoy a sermon read verbatim from the page...)
   
2. Not So Reserved: Welcome to my park bench from which we can notice and discuss the traces and signs of God's presence and activity in the Alle-Kiski Valley. Have a seat. Relax and take a look around. Something big is happening, and you are invited to participate. The author, Stewart, from Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania, United States, describes himself as a "Creature of dust, child of God, transplant to Western Pennsylvania, guest preacher here and there." In addition to information about where and when he's preaching, Stewart's blog includes his Twitter updates.
   
3. Notes from Off-Center: Society and theology from the view of a Christian pragmatist. The author, Andrew (Drew) Tatusko hold both an M.Div. and Th.M. and is a college/university instructor. More information about his education, work, and publications here. The website includes a blog (organized by category, chock full of thought-provoking posts), Twitter feed, and a robust network of out-going links.
   

Cheers!

PC(USA) Q&A

In lieu of a Member Blog Meet & Greet today, I have a question.

I'm thinking about doing a Presbyterianism 101 adult ed class.  Our group is casual and discussion-based, so we'd take a low-key approach.  Each week we'd take a symbol or ritual or reading or prayer or creed or color and discuss why it's historically significant then why it's relevant to us as Presbyterians today.

Do you have any suggestions for helpful resources I might use to start pulling the syllabus together?

Happy 8th Day of Christmas!

I don't know if it's just me and the circles in which I immerse myself (I didn't listen to any commercial radio in December, just my own Christmas CDs and NPR) but I didn't hear quite as much about the 12 days of Christmas happening BEFORE Christmas this year.

I do find myself rushing through this part of the season, though.  Usually I'm loathe to let the magic of Christmas subside into the melancholy of winter, replacing red and green decorations with silver and white, substituting diet and exercise for parties and over-indulgence.  I leave all of our household decorations out until Epiphany.  But this year I find myself anxious to "clean up" and "clear out" and "shape up" and move on to the next thing.  I continuously remind myself that Christmas isn't a season to rush through, it's not a series of to-do lists, it's not clutter.  It's what really matters (although perhaps not the cookies and the drying fir in and of themselves).

So.  Moving along to the first January Member Blog Meet and Greet.  Two items of business today.

First, a welcome to our newest member blog: The Preacher's Husband: A journal from the living community of faith by Derek Maul.  "Life is good. It's about living in partnership with my wife, Rebekah, about serving God in the context of our church home, about being the parent of two amazing children, and of both honing and using my particular gifts in order to make this world a better place."  Recent posts at this fabulous weekly blog run the gamut from "Who wears the pants? (did somebody really say that...)" to "Preachers and a Healthy (redemptive) Lifestyle." This blog is worth a read!

Second, and very important, we have a new blogger to welcome to the unofficial PC(USA) Blog! Starting this week, Presbybug Talitha will start a weekly column on Wednesdays, and I'll let her explain the concept to you as she gets started with her first installment. Talitha's written here before, frequently in comments and notably with a guest-blog about mission.

Welcome, all. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

PC(USA) Q&A

"Our church is going through a very difficult time.  We have an Endowment Fund - established some time in the 1960's when the church was flourishing.  As with many churches we are seeing a decrease in the number of members - death and relocation mostly.

We've received some new members and for them we are grateful.

We have two full time pastors who refer to themselves as co-pastors.  They have been instrumental in attracting new members and the youth are coming!

The problem is that we (still) have members who were here during the affluent years.  Then, the membership was composed of the wealthy and the locally renown.

That group of members believe the Endowment Fund is not growing as it should be but is instead being relied upon to grow our church (aiding in community outreach, food pantry, Christmas baskets, youth work opportunities within the church during the summer months, youth mission trips, etc.).  This group believes the Endowment Fund money is forbidden fruit and not to be used even when the need is evident!

We all realize that money earmarked or set aside for certain purposes should not be touched.  However, is it truly "Christian" to keep an Endowment Fund and never use it (?) especially when the local poverty level is nearly twenty-five percent?

I'm so sad for this ugly turn of events.  Unfortunately, if our co-pastors are forced out, I will be leaving too.  I simply cannot worship in a church that worships money."

One thing I thought of when reading this email was a brief article in The Presbyterian Outlook from last year, "Tips for Taking Hold of Financial Distress."

I find this a perpetually recurring a tough question for churches.  How can we pay for X (our building, our staff, our denominational per capita dues, mailing newsletters) when there is hunger in our communities, when there is cholera in Haiti, when there are human rights abuses around the world and here at home?  Well, sometimes we do hold too tightly to things we could/should let go.  But we do need to be careful about dismissing expenditures as unnecessary.

Because there's also a truth that some of the "less important" stuff goes into what makes us feel like - and function as - a community.  My husband works for a faith-based organization.  Every fall we used to have a company-wide picnic with entertainment, catered food, bounce houses for the kids, etc.  Until one year there was Hurricane Katrina and the fellowship committee decided that the money usually spent on the picnic could better be spent aiding the people and communities devastated by the storm.

How could that possibly have been a wrong decision?

But it set a precedent - there's always a pressing need - and the company picnic is no longer the tradition.  Since that time, company moral and team spirits have been plummeting, turn over has increased.  Is this coincidence?  Perhaps.  Perhaps not.

It's a tough question.  Your thoughts?

Monday Blog Club

 Welcome to our newest blogger, Mark Sandlin of The God Article. Sandlin "currently serves as the minister at Vandalia Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, NC. He received his M. Div. from Wake Forest University's School of Divinity and has undergraduate degrees in Business Administration and English with a minor in Computer Science. He's an ordained minister in the PC(USA) and a self-described progressive."

The God Article is both a blog about Church/Theological/Liturgical-related things (on the 'Church' tab) and also a blog about progressive Christian perspectives (on the 'State' tab) on politics in the US. There are also tabs that are more just for fun: "Signs From God?" is a sometimes humorous look at Church Signs. Quotables is a list of the author's favorite quotes. And Good Stuff is a random sampling of the author's interest including Good Books (a book review), Good Web Reads (a blog roll of sorts), Good Stuff (shameless promotional type stuff) and Good-n-Fit (a personal weight loss blog). This blog seeks to walk a balance between not taking itself too seriously and at the same time taking the subject matter very seriously. It is not with out its controversy because of its willingness to look at matters like homosexuality from a progressive Christian perspective. Its Facebook fan page continues to grow weekly and many of its article are frequently shared throughout Facebook and Twitter. Give The God Article a look and decide for yourself if it is worth sharing.

Monday Blog Club

Welcome to the newest member of our web ring and blog roll, Tangerine Lizard of Christ plays in Ten Thousand places.

I hope to offer new and personal intuitions and insights into old stories and contemporary events. I am a Minister within the Uniting Presbyterian Church in South Africa (UPCSA)in active early retirement, ordained in 1985 and having served congregations in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The title of my blog Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places is taken from Gerard Manly Hopkins poem entitled "As Kingfishers catch flame," which stresses the individual yet manifold expression of 'selves being Self in Christ. Eugene Peterson’s “conversation in spiritual theology” found in in his book "Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places" is another foundational text for me. This emphasizes my belief that God is at work in Christ through the Holy Spirit outside the Church -even at work in what we consider may "counter" and "strange" (also Gerard Manly Hopkins) My interests are particularly in new interpretations and expressions of the evangelical Christian faith, and how these impact on the local church and community - or not.

Glad to have your voice here!

Happy Thanksgiving! Monday Blog Club

Serve yourself a slice of turkey with all the trimmings, sit down, and enjoy catching up with a few blogs this week. Today we have a collection of three new and/or updated blogs for the web ring.

1) Very Truly Blessed: Striving for a servant's heart, Christian blog by Gail:

Very Truly Blessed is a blog about life being rediscovered in the guise of a small Presbyterian Church. Away from any church for years and years, I found a small church 1 block from my house, a few months after my Mother died. Today, the Christ, the church and my family are the center of my life. I have been in the Sashabaw Presbyterian Church now for almost 4 years. I started going with my oldest daughter. I was reserved. After a few months I became a Presbyterian and joined the Church. The next year, my husband and I took over the building and grounds duty, and the next year, I became a elder. At the same time of this process, I rediscovered the piano and now am the backup musician for Sunday morning. In addition, I have the honor of teaching the elementary age kids in Sunday School. Sashabaw Presbyterian has truly been a blessing in my life. The church brought both myself and my family closer to God and to the community in which we live. My husband who had never in his life attended Church now attends on a regular basis. We are indeed very truly blessed.

2) Robert's Musings by Robert Shaw:

Life is much more enjoyable when read with the lens of Scripture and Scripture becomes all the more powerful when read with the lens of current events. Robert Shaw, pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Winfield, Indiana, post his reflections each Wednesday morning. Each entry begins with an excerpt from the applicable readings in the Daily Lectionary. His reflections look for the intersection of current events and Scripture. New entries are announced via Twitter (christpresbycp) and his Facebook account. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) posts the Daily Lectionary at: http://www.pcusa.org/lectionary/. Robert Shaw is am looking for a few other Presbyterian bloggers who would help him extend this exercise to a new daily blog. We would read each other's entries and provide encouragement and comments. Hopefully a combined effort would yield greater readership which would increase visibility and thereby spread the gospel to people beyond the fringes of the church. His biography and contact information is available at http://yourcpc.net/pastor.html

3) And, finally this week, we have Robin at Metanoia. Robin describes herself as a married mom of three. Elder and Candidate for Ordination in the PC(USA). Almost brand-new M.Div. Spiritual Director in the Ignatian tradition. Writer, photographer, canoer, hiker, voracious reader ~ and someone who knows the beach is the best. Metanoia is her non-anonymous blog.

Welcome, bloggers and readers, new and old! Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Gratuitous

In lieu of a Member Blog Meet and Greet today, here's a shot of my eldest singing in church this morning. (Front row on left, green dress)

Alleluia, indeed!

Monday Blog Club

Today's first blog is Mrs.ReverendDr.: The life of a full time, head Pastor's wife, offering a variety of posts about ministry, hospitality and Church-clergy relations in the PC (USA) church. (She now blogs as Coupon Queen at Eerie Deals.) I've followed Mrs.Rev.Dr.'s blog from time to time since she joined the web ring. I find her stories fascinating, as she is a minister's wife and I am a minister's daughter but our experiences are very different! I'm bummed that she's no longer blogging at Mrs.Rev.Dr.

Second is My Farcical Existence by Miranda. Miranda's blog has lain dormant for over two years but remains on our blog roll and always will, since she started the unofficial PC(USA) Blog. If you're curious about our roots, check out the archives here and go read some vintage Miranda. Cheers!

And, finally, we have NeilCraigan.Com: On a journey to become human... Neil is an Irish American pastor living and serving in Minnesota. And he's a runner! (I have a soft spot for distance runners. Had a great time watching my husband finish a Halloween 10k this morning. Wish I had been able to run it, too!) Recent posts on NeilCraigan.com include Thoughts on Presbyterian Worship, Music in Worship, a thought on narratives, and an NPR interview with Peter Himmelman about his priorities as a husband, father, and observant Jew.

Happy reading!

Monday Blog Club

1. At Monmouth Presbytery Mission Cafe and soon-to-be presbytery website, Bruce Reyes-Chow, Moderator of the 2008 General Assembly, posted this response to the teen suicides. Other recent posts include Hunter Farrell's letter about the General Assembly Mission Council's Independent Abuse Review Panel (IARP) report and a link to an inspirational post about creation care. Lots to see here!
2. Church of Scotland/Presbyterian Minister: preacher, pastor, and encourager, Mary Haddow, blogs at Mountain Tops and Monday Mornings: thoughts of a follower of Christ … a wife, mother and pastor. Recent posts include her reflections on being ministered to while ministering, the God-shaped hole in all of us, and, my favorite, Surviving the Friendly Fire, about ministers dealing with constant criticism (and little support) from congregations.
3. Mr. Locke's Classroom is the blog of Neal Locke. Neal is a former high school English teacher, current Presbyterian seminary student, and future monastic microbrewer. He's also a husband and a father. Recent posts include a three-part series on Who Is My Neighbor: Pastoral Ministry in a Border Community. Alongside the blog are mstrlocke's tweets.

What a creative and diverse blog roll we have!

Monday Blog Club

Welcome to Monday!

1) Talitha P blogs at Madame Future Moderator: Some day I'm going to grow up to moderate something very important; like a Session, or a Presbytery, or maybe even the General Assembly of the PC(USA). Alternately, I might give up on all things establishmentarian and go live with Jesus in a tree.  I like Talitha because she reads Robert's Rules of Order for fun.  Or maybe it's because she's so passionate about mission work.  But what makes her stand out this week is her most recent post.

Here at the unofficial PC(USA) blog we're all about respectful conversation and, yes, even disagreement.  Check out that blog roll, folks!  But this week we got a few messages from someone with a passionate hatred (and mistaken understanding) of the denomination.  So stumbling upon Happy To Be Presbyterian was a wonderful surprise.  Especially today, when I was elected to serve as an elder for the first time.  So thanks, Talitha!

2) Over at Mark Time, Mark Smith recently reviewed Carol Howard Merritt's Reframing Hope.  (My brother-in-law is reading that one right now.)  He also discusses the unexpected turn his recent job search took.  Congrats, Mark, on the big leap: hearing and responding to a different call than you were seeking!  Best of luck and God's blessing on your journey.

3) Meanwhile, Rev. Carl Wilton continues his short story, "A Treasurer's Tale" over at Monmouth Presbytery Clerk's Corner.  The tale begins (with apologies to Charles Dickens):  

Ebeneezer Droodge, church treasurer, awoke with a start from his fitful sleep. That noise – what was it?

It was nothing, he assured himself. Probably a little too much tuna casserole at the church potluck. Sure, that was it. Tuna casserole.

No, wait – he was sure he’d heard it this time.

“Over here, Ebeneezer.”

“Where?”

“Over here, on your computer. Where you sit up late every night fussing with the church spreadsheets.”

Monday Blog Club

This week I'd like to highlight a few more members of our robust and diverse web ring.  Up this week are three blogs that begin with the letters K and L:

1) Kruse Kronicle: Commentary and reflection on ministry and culture in the twilight of Western Christendom.  This blog's author is elder Michael Kruse, who describes himself, saying, "I am presently serving as the chair of the of the General Assembly Mission Council of the Presbyterian Church (USA), but my horizons and involvement extend well beyond denominationalism. Of particular interest to me is how our daily work connects with the things of God."  And his interests include "annoying Presbyterians."  :-)

Kruse pulls out interesting articles and essays from various news sources, sometimes adding commentary and sometimes letting the pieces stand on their own.

2) Next is the Laughing Pastor.  "My grandmother taught me the art of laughter. She also taught me to be honest about life. Along the way as I share the ups and downs of my journey I consistently bump into laughter. Laughter is a many sided gift of which humor is only one aspect. I believe laughter is like prayer....with faith and hope there is always space for laughter."

Recent posts include texts, pictures, poetry, and links.  Definitely another blog worth a visit this week.
"In short...
Breathe more.Enjoy Life.
Enjoy God."

3) Lighthouse/searchlight church: Participating in the mission of the light of the world by Robert Austell, pastor of Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC ... passionate about worship, music, and God's mission to the world . 

Welcome! The primary purpose of this blog is to explore and encourage around what it means to be winsome and sent into the world for God's glory. The definition of "lighthouse-searchlight" is a good place to start. Come peruse the blog!

Three excellent blogs this week.  Check 'em out!

Monday Blog Club

In lieu of welcoming new members this week I'd like to take the opportunity to highlight a few members of our web ring. (Check out the blog roll at right.) Working our way through the alphabet - slowly - we're somewhere in the "I's."

First up is Kara Root, who blogs at in the hereandnow: musings on motherhood and ministry. Kara describes herself as "A typical Presbyterian minister, mom of two clever kids and two unruly dogs, and wife and proofreader of a wily theologian." If that's not enough to pique your interest, recent posts include Responsible Remembering: 9/11 & Now, When you don't have a year off to eat, pray and love..., and old letters and new life. This blog is worth a read, and not just because of the author's gift for titles.

Next we have Dr. Tod Bolsinger: husband, father, pastor, author, professor, hiker, runner, adventurer, and outdoors-lover who blogs at It Takes A Church...  Musings about Christian Community, the mission of Christ, leading through change and the life God intended for all of us. By Tod Bolsinger, pastor, author, and irregular blogger. The author has been off the grid backpacking recently, but recent posts include examinations of clergy burnout, seeing a pastor drinking alcohol in public, and "living beyond limitations" through parishioner example. Check him out!

Finally, It's not just about the camel dance. This blog, by Rev. Amy (associate pastor, music listener, cats-named-after-buffy-characters lover, laughter causer, sleep needer) hasn't been updated since the end of July. But the title's so great I couldn't resist checking in! I'm glad I did, because her summer posts detail youth mission trip and are a great read. Even if she does dis Missouri!