I’m live-blogging my last day in the PCC office. No real reason, just for kicks. The most recent updates will be a the top.
[5:17] Time to call it a day. Probably have a bit more tweaking to do on the sermon, but it’s getting close. Maggie and I are off to celebrate (if that’s the right word) my last day in the PCC office. Think we’re going to see Horton Hears a Who and have some dinner.
[3:43] Sermon is down to 40 minutes… getting closer. The new laptop has arrived!
[2:53] Yep, that was the ticket. Some Metropolis coffee from Honey in downtown Glen Ellyn. I think the sermon is beginning to make sense. At least to me.
[1:59] Need caffeine . Taking my sermon notes out for editing and coffee. That should help.
[12:00 PM] Working on a few slides for Sunday; taking a break for some lunch with Maggie.
[10:34 AM] Just talked through the sermon for the first time. It’s 20 minutes too long. The editing begins.
[9:11 AM] At my desk, feeling sleepy and wearing my lucky Wheaton Popcorn Store t-shirt. The office is quiet today; most of the staff has the day off or is taking their quarterly reflection day.
The office is mostly packed up except for a few reference books that I need out for Sunday’s sermon. The sermon that I haven’t finished yet.
Also, waiting for the FedEx guy to deliver my new Mac Book.
This week I’ve been writing about the things I’ll miss about Parkview when I begin my new job at NC3 in a couple of weeks. There are a bunch of things I’m sad to be leaving, but I’m just writing about three. So far I’ve mentioned the eclectic community and the great staff.
The third thing I’ll miss about PCC (though I don’t expect it to change at NC3) is the incredible flexibility and willingness to entertain new ideas. I’ve know enough about the experiences of young pastors to know what a gift this has been. Not once has anyone told me, “That’s not how we do things around here.” Not once! Not all of my ideas have been accepted and implemented (thank goodness!), but I have never been shut down for suggesting new ways of thinking or approaches to ministry.
There have been plenty of good attributes about PCC that I’ve lost sight of when in the thick of life and ministry, but this fflexibility is not one of them. I have been and remain really grateful for this generosity and humility exhibited by folks who know a lot more than me.
Catherine takes the new green marketing machine to task. I am wholeheartedly unimpressed by what has become of our nation’s “green effort,” as well as the green efforts of nearly everyone I know - myself very much included. And here is why. Our environmental efforts have been subtly turned on their head. The whole point is to stop consuming; or at least, to consume less. But daily now I receive print ads encouraging me to be green, or email ads suggesting that I buy this or that latest green product.
Gareth makes some observations about the American media diet.Most of us would like to believe that we have come a long way since the Roman circus – where human beings killed people for our entertainment - or even the Victorian circus - where we only abused the disabled and disadvantaged. Today’s circus may look like it only mocks the powerful – with the fabulously wealthy being humiliated as they emerge drunk and bloodied from a nightclub, or photographed while getting an embarrassing haircut. But I think we’re kidding ourselves if we think people are not harmed by the pornography of social humiliation offered up 24/7. Amy Winehouse’s visible bruises and alleged substance abuse problem, and Britney Spears’ obvious mental illness are not legitimate fodder for our entertainment, no matter how economically powerful these two women may be.
I’ve been hearing a lot about the Ben Stein documentary, Expelled, from Christian friends who are excited about it. Here’s a website that is less enthusiastic, Expelled Exposed. In promoting the creationist propaganda film Expelled, Ben Stein managed to stick his foot in his mouth over and over again, issuing what seemed to be a ceaseless stream of ignorant, offensive, and just plain daffy claims.
This is my last week as a staff person at Parkview Community Church and I’m listing three of the things I’ll miss about the church. On Monday I wrote about the diverse and eclectic nature of the Parkview community. The second thing I’ll miss about PCC is the staff.
Those of you who are Parkview people are aware of the funny and wonderful group of folks that make up the staff. There are folks who have been doing ministry for many years. Others of us have had our first experience as paid ministry staff at Parkview. We’ve got a senior pastor who, by his own admission, looks a bit like a thug. We have a former overseas missionary and a former salesperson. We’ve got a guy who could be making a living as woodworker. And on it goes.
To be honest, there is not a lot about these folks that should make us like each other. We don’t all like the same movies or vote the same way. Some are young and some are not as young. Our strengths and experiences are very different. But, we really do like each other.
I think this is a good thing, and it’s another thing I’ll miss about Parkview.
I’ll miss this diverse team of people who are united by their love for Jesus and his church. I’m thankful that I got to be a part of it for the past 5 years.
For those of you Chicago-landers, I’m highly recommending that you go see Purple State of Mind at the Billy Graham Center on the Wheaton College campus. The documentary will be screened at 7:00 PM on Thursday. I had a chance to see an advanced copy of the film a few months ago and was really impressed. Here’s a description from the website,
Welcome to a conversation between two old friends. Welcome to a real conversation about the things that divide and unite all of us: our memories, our identities, our beliefs, our choices.
Craig Detweiler and John Marks have known each other for twenty-five years. When they roomed together as sophomores at Davidson College, they were devout Christians. It was Craig’s first year in the faith, John’s last. After college, they parted ways, and when they met again, years later, they never talked about what happened… until now…
Their conversation starts as a bull session between pals and becomes a story about how people make friends, and how they lose them; how people change, how they grow, and how they deal with the big stuff: death, sex, the meaning of life, God. The conversation between Craig and John captures in all its intimacy and difficulty a one on one reckoning between two people who want to understand each other but won’t compromise their beliefs.
At a time when the country is ever more divided over questions of faith and doubt, welcome to a new way of talking… welcome to a new territory of the heart. Welcome to a Purple State of Mind.
I’m particularly interested in the honest conversation on display in this film. I hope you can make it. Here’s the trailer…
Yesterday was strange mostly because it was so normal. I had a good meeting with some of our amazing volunteers… arranged a ride to a job interview for one of our homeless members… talked with some Parkview folks I hadn’t seen for a while. The weirdness of the morning was knowing that after this coming Sunday Maggie and I won’t be around. And after being around for almost 8 years, that feels pretty strange.
As I’ve thought about these last few Sunday services, all the thing things I love about PCC have bubbled up. This week I want to share three of those. I’m not sure if these are the things that have been most significant to me or not… but they are the three that came most quickly to mind.
The first thing I’ll miss about PCC is the eclectic and diverse make-up of our community. I’ve not visited too many other churches in the western suburbs, so this might be normal. Regardless, I think it is so right that on any given Sunday morning I will have conversations with folks who slept on a park bench the night before and with other folks who are rushing to the airport to catch a flight to an important business meeting.
One of the ways this diversity has changed me is making me see that we all see, hear, and interpret in such different ways. At times when we’ve sung a worship song that I really don’t like and I wonder why we are wasting our time. Almost every time I have this thought someone will tell me how significant that song was to them, how it connected with where they are.
Mmm… humble pie.
I believe I’m finishing my time at PCC with more humility because of those who make up our church. Every week I am reminded that the world is an wonderfully eclectic place, and my opinions and desires may not matter all that much. What may be way more important is that this community has welcomed and accepted me.
In honor of the Death Cab for Cutie concert tickets I got this week, it seems right to post the first video for their latest album, Narrow Stairs. The song has a long intro (too long?), but seems to fit with the feel of the video. How cool would it have been to travel to all the places in this video? Here’s I Will Posses Your Heart.
Missional Church is one of those books I return to with some regularity. On Wednesday, while working from Caribou on my upcoming sermon I came across the following passage. After showing it to Bob (who was also working out of the coffee shop), he said something like, “You should just stand up, read that, pray and sit down.”
That probably won’t happen, but the quote seems significant enough to share here.
Evangelism would move from an act of recruiting or co-opting those outside the church to an invitation of companionship. The church would witness that its members, like others, hunger for the hope that there is a God who reigns in love and intends the good of the whole earth. The community of the church would testify that they have heard the announcement that such a reign is coming, and indeed is already breaking into the world. They would confirm that they have heard the open welcome and received it daily, and they would invite others to join them as those who also have been extended God’s welcome. To those invited, the church would offer itself to assist their entrance into the reign of God and to travel with them as co-pilgrims.
I am taken with this vision of an invitation to pilgrimage. Surely this isn’t the only way to talk about Christian witness, but it may be one we need to hear more often.
A number of folks have been asking whether Maggie and I have found a place to live in the city. As of yesterday afternoon I can happily report that we have. Click on the map to see where we’ll be living when we move in a couple of weeks.
On Sunday afternoon I had three apartments lined up to see. After seeing the second one I called Maggie and said, “I think I’ve found our new home.” (Maggie was at a wedding shower. May I confess that it is slightly stressful looking for a new home without the person who will be sharing it with you?) I had a meeting at NC3 that evening, but our friend Victoria gave Maggie a ride into the city to check out my find.
The location is good, the landlords seem great, and there is a small backyard where we can grow some herbs and veggies this summer. It’s kind of funny, but our new home in the city will be quieter than our current home in the burbs.
Here’s a photo looking out the living room window of our new apartment. Thanks to those who were praying for this.
Keeping my eyes open for signs of life wherever they may be found: conversation, film, books, ideas, church, music, people, experiences...
