June 1, 2009

Becoming Reverend: My experience being Commissioned

The hard part was over.  I had the 30 pages of answered questions.  I had preached the sermon, got the Bible Study ready, and passed the interview.  I had taken the necessary classes from seminary and went through every hoop the Methodist Church had set before me, it was finally time to be commissioned.  I answered my call in the summer of 2001, and it was finally now in the spring of 2009 that I have become Reverend.

            So to say that Monday night May 25, 2009 was a big night in my life is a bit of an understatement.  I knew this.  I knew that I had family coming in from out of town to attend the commissioning (There was my new nephew Bennett that they came to see as well.)  There was the barrage of handshakes and congratulations that were flying my way from an assortment of communities that I had been a part of.  I knew this was a big night. Keep reading →

May 30, 2009

The Eyes of Fatherhood

            Some words that have changed my life: “I do,” “I love you,” “I’m proud of you,” “From North Carolina,” “Have you ever considered a call to ordained ministry,” and now “You’re having a boy!”  The words came from a technician, but the gift is from God.  I have only begun to think about the ways in which having a boy might change my life, and I have a feeling that this Son of ours will cause me some frustration, but for today I just want to brainstorm about some of the things that I am most looking forward to do with our Son.

            I want him to know that his dad loves him, is proud of him, cares for him, wants to be a part of his life, supports him, forgives him, sacrifices for him, and prays for him constantly. Keep reading →

May 18, 2009

40 Days of Methodist Prayer

Friends,

I am participating the 40 Days of Prayer that has been put together by the UMC Young Clergy.  I have been super busy with life lately, so I have not been able to do anywhere near as much as I would like to do with this, but I did write a prayer for this journey, and I strongly, strongly encourage each of you to participate in this.  I am going to post some links to the people who are spearheading this for us.

Description of the 40 Days of Prayer Campaign

UMC Young Clergy Blog

Prayer Feed

Buy the book either hard copy or downloadable

The blog post that started it all

April 26, 2009

What to call the Grandparents? A Theory

School is picking up, so blogs are going to be at a minimum the next few weeks, but I’ll do what I can.  Today you get a theory.  As I prepare for fatherhood, we are now in the 2nd trimester!  Also, I am newly an uncle as of April 22nd!  I have had a conversation with some about what to call the grandparents.  I have learned that sometimes grandparents names just happen.  A grandkid in their learning of this vast new world of language try to say something, a name just emerges. 

However, I think that the name from grandparents come for our idea of grandparents.  I never knew my mom’s dad.  He passed away before any of the grandkids were born, but I did know my dad’s dad, Abraham Tiger.  No middle name, just Abraham.  Of course, I didn’t know him as such, to me he was and always will be Papa.  When I think of a grandfather, Papa is forever ingrained in my mind.  Just hearing the name brings joy to my heart.  And when the time comes many moons from now, and if I have the choice, I will choose Papa. 

I had assumed then that my dad would want to be called Papa.  After all that was the name that I associate with being a grandfather, but my dad when he thinks about grandfather does not think about his dad, but about his grandfather who he called Granddad.  Just like in my mind is a grandfather Papa, so in his mind is a grandfather Granddad. 

My conclusion is thus: Grandparents names skips a generation.  So, my grandparent line may be something like Granddad, Papa, Granddad, Papa.  Just a thought.  If you have any leave them below.

April 10, 2009

My Mocking Voice: Participating in the Crucifixion

Occasionally, God gives me a song. The song varies, but God gives me a verse or a chorus that continually fills my mind and soul. One time the song was “From Sunrise to Sunset.” It’s is a catchy tune, “From sunrise to sunset help me not forget all that you do for me. From sunset to sunrise help me keep my eyes upon your glory.” What a good song to have in your head! God has placed a different song in my head during these final days of Lent: “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us.” The title of the song sounds like a fun song to have in your head, but this is the verse that God has graciously given me, “Behold the man upon a cross, my sin upon his shoulders, ashamed I hear my mocking voice, call out among the scoffers.” Keep reading →

April 3, 2009

Advice for Those Seeking Commissioning in the UM Church

Now that I am a Reverend-Elect, I thought I would give some advice to all those candidates for ministry in the UM church who are going through the process to commissioning.

1. Plan ahead.  It is easy to put your commissioning off.  You are busy with Seminary.  You have a family that needs your attention.  You might be working one or two jobs.  If you plan ahead though you can be disciplined with your time.  Some conferences allow you to be commissioned half-way through, but they require you to have completed certain classes, know those classes and plan your schedule around them.  Also, communicate with your DCOM and let them know your intentions.  I met with them over the phone last Spring with the goal in mind to be commissioned this Spring.  They would not had suggested it had I not initiated the idea.  So, look over the process, put goals in mind and plan ahead.  Same thing with finishing up your candidacy stuff.  It could take a while to get in for the psychological testing.  So plan ahead. Keep reading →

March 31, 2009

Reverend-Elect: My Experience with the Board of Ordained Ministry

The letter was non-descript.  3 paragraphs of type with one hand written note: 11:00 A.M.  That was the time of my meeting and one of the more crucial hours in my life.  Though like some crucial hours in one’s life: I was prepared for it.  Well, prepared in some ways, not as prepared in others.  Prepared because I had done a lot of work for this meeting.  Not just the sermon, the Bible Study, and the Theological questions, but more so the culmination of the past 8 years: going to classes, talking with family and friends, studying the Word, praying, preaching, being a youth director, going to Annual Conference, and a host of other things.  I had positioned myself for an hour that I was prepared for.  I was not fully prepared though.  I did not know what questions would be asked, what perspectives would be brought, or how my nerves would react.  My family and friends told me I had nothing to worry about.  They are wise folks, of course, but I was anxious anyway.  Keep reading →

March 26, 2009

An Old Song: A New Word

“O let Him have the things that hold you.” After singing that line hundreds of time, it never hit me until today. I loved the “Spirit Song.” It was one of those songs that we sang at the traditional service that felt contemporary. There was something about singing out to God, “Come and fill your lambs,” that resonated with me. What a great prayer this is! I adopted a model of this as my breath prayer, “Come Holy Spirit.” During a good day, I will say that prayer many times. Other days, I don’t pray it at all. But yet, I still didn’t catch the line in the song that hit me over the head today. Keep reading →

March 23, 2009

Too many UM Pastors? A good problem to have.

There has to be a better way.  That’s my conclusion.  I don’t know if you are supposed to start a blog post with your conclusion, and plus if you are going to start it with a conclusion, then you probably should have a better one than this, but this is my conclusion, “There has to be a better way.”  If this was Jeopardy, there would be a lot of possible correct questions: What do we do about our economic situation?  What about a new design for Caprisun’s that don’t cause holes in both sides of the drink?  And this question: What do we do when a United Methodist Annual Conference have a substantial inflow of new clergy without the matching outflow needed to fill all the spots?  This is the situation of North Georgia and in North Carolina.  To read about the situation in North Carolina click here, where there are over 2 dozen clergy who are appointmentless.  Keep reading →

March 23, 2009

LT Update: March 23rd

A little LT update for all my family and friends.  We are now 11 weeks into our pregnancy.  It has been a roller-coaster last few weeks though.  We have made a couple extra trips to the doctor because of some bleeding that Heather has had.  So, on March 12th the good doctor told Heather to be on bed rest for 2 weeks.  While we were not excited about the news, we are doing anything we can to protect the baby and let LT grow and mature.  Heather’s mom, Peggie, has been here since the 18th and has kept Heather company, while I’ve been gone at work and school.  (She’s also done laundry, dishes, and cleaned the house as well!)  We go back to the doctor on Wednesday afternoon (25th) and hopefully we can get back to “normal pregnancy” life.  If not, well we will make adjust accordingly.

Now, for the fun stuff.  Keep reading →