Tailored

I recently read an article that explained why every single Hollywood star always looks good in their clothes--even in those paparazzi pictures of them schlumping around town in their jeans. It’s because they never, never wear anything that hasn’t been tailored to fit them. They really don’t all have perfect bodies. They don’t walk into a store and find the size that miraculously fits them, when the rest of us never seem able to find that store or that size. The secret is all in the tailoring!

Then I read another blog. You might like to go to this one yourself. It’s a great site that gives me much good stuff to think about.

It seems it’s necessary to tailor our communication to the various folks we want to stay in touch with. Some love email; others hate it. Some live on facebook; others find it silly and time-wasting. Some folks make do with only a cell-phone; others must be reached by landline. And finally they got to talking about the so-called generational divide. Is it really only a certain generation that prefers one thing or another? Is it really only the “young adults” who use this or that bit of technology? We talk a lot about that too.

So my further musings today are around this question: who bears the greater responsibility? Is it up to me to know what you prefer and to tailor my communication to suit you? Is it up to the congregation, or the pastor, or the church planter to tailor our welcome or our pastoral visiting, or our outreach to the exact preference of the folks we want to reach?

Is it unreasonable to expect that once in awhile a visitor or a long-time member might bend to accept our best intentions—even when me miss the mark a little?

We church folk really do spend an awful lot of energy thinking about what will appeal to young adults, or how to adjust our worship practices or our outreach programs. What can you do to ensure the “spiritual but not religious” find out that we’ve done just ever so much work to tailor our programs for them too.

It seems Paul was having some of these thoughts. Here's his conclusion in his letter to the Corinthians (ch 9:17-27)

For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I might by any means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

So there you have it. Seems Paul wants us all to be tailors! What do you think?

Posted by Marion

Full serve

I was so pleased to find a full service station on my way into London Sunday. A nice young man was willing to stand out there in the cold and put gas in my car. He popped the hood and topped up the windshield washer that had been pumped dry washing off an hour’s worth of highway splash. While I sat inside my warm car listening to my radio.

Full service stations are going the way of the dodo. Two such stations within a couple of blocks of my office have closed completely—gone! I’m guessing they can’t compete with the self serve places. Everybody out of the car; pump it yourself!

I had a friend who always left his tray and the dregs of his McDonald's meal, despite the handy bins and clear expectation that diners clear their own tables. “I’m saving some kid’s job,” he explained. “As long as there are jerks like me who won’t ‘do it yourself’ they’ve gotta keep somebody employed to clean up after me.” I’m always conflicted if I eat in fast food places. One good reason I’m more likely to choose the sit-down full serve place myself.

Have you bumped up against this clash of desire for full service in a culture of self serve? We like discount store low prices but are annoyed by messy shelves, clothes on the floor, nobody to ask when you need help. We’re frustrated by enormous unwieldy plastic packaging on our electronics or cosmetics, forgetting it’s been developed primarily to deter shoplifting in an understaffed store.

So I’m thinking this impacts somewhat on our church, or our congregational life. Is that a place where we’d really like a full serve establishment but forget we’ve chosen to ‘shop’ at a self serve denomination? Are we asking for a complete range of programming options but don’t have time to be on the planning committee? Maybe don’t even have time to register for events, but would like to know they’re there in case we have a free evening or weekend or whatever?

“Communication” is always a hot topic. Ask anyone and they’ll wish for better communication. “Someone” should be doing a better job. With all the technology available, couldn’t we have a classy website, a top-notch newsletter (available electronically or hard copy), regular reminders and telephone (Twitter?) chains keeping us apprised of prayer needs and skating parties at the rink in the pastor’s yard! But who is that someone, or ones who will volunteer the hours or contribute the dollars to pay for these services?

I could go on with lots of illustrations, but it would be difficult to keep them anonymous enough to ‘protect the innocent.’

I had a great conversation recently with a willing volunteer for a certain commission that shall remain nameless. We were grappling with some of these very questions and coming to a conclusion that it is essential to clearly define their responsibility, to have a precise understanding of what they can and cannot do. These folks are willing to serve! But they also have lives, so they can’t be full-serve! But they can tell you where to put your garbage and give you a really great product at a good price, if you’re willing to serve yourself along the way, hopefully with a smile.

Please don’t share your complaints. Skip right to any solutions that are working for you and share them.

Posted by Marion

Paper

I’m trying to come to grips with my love/hate relationship with paper. Generally I think I can say I quite like paper. Unfortunately, like many good things (fire, food) it can also be a problem.

I spent a good part of this recent holiday down time ridding my home of excess paper. Whew! How it can pile up—and every day a new load is delivered right to my door! Without good management it can be overwhelming. Certainly there are many good things in this great pile of paper; it isn’t all junk. But somehow I need to pluck out those good things soon or they get lost in the volume.

Given the amount of genuine communication that happens electronically in my life, it’s quite amazing just how much paper finds its way into my office, onto my desk and shelves! Occasionally CEM people ask us for a paper newsletter. There are several reasons this is not going to happen. If you are one of those folk I apologize, but resources just don’t make that possible. And there is the real benefit that we can actually say much more using this medium, and be more current.

There are definitely days I would say I hate all this paper!

And yet, I love paper! I love blank pads of paper and wonderful empty journals; hand-crafted paper is lovely as a post card or little message pad. Why I even love the scraps of paper I diligently tear into quarter sheets for copying notes or phone numbers.

I very much agree with the research that says we tap into a different and more creative part of our brains when we pick up a nice pen and slow ourselves down to handwrite something, anything really, on a piece of paper. Slow writing has a particular magic that a keyboard or a texting device does not. As I’ve had this time to slow down and to reflect on how I plan to go forward into the new year, (and beyond that into retirement) I’ve realized that much of my writing has been happening on my computer and not in my journals. I’ve been missing the good things that happen in my life when I take some time to do that regularly and often.

While I do enjoy the practice of producing these quick essays that become blog posts every day or so, it just isn’t the same. They are part of an ongoing conversation with you, our faithful readers. What I’m missing is the meditation practice, the deliberate stretching of that creative muscle that I experience when I’m handwriting.

Today I am resolving to restore some balance to my writing practices. There will still be plenty of quick marching at the keyboard, but also more slow dancing with real paper. I recommend it to everyone who needs to slow their pace a bit--and who doesn’t?

Posted by Marion

Virtual

Following the final edit on Wednesday’s blog post about the communications issues around voting in my mostly rural community, I clicked on an email I had put off reading for several days. It was an article from The Alban Institute, and while they are always interesting, I also knew the piece would keep until I had time to read it. As soon as I started reading, however, I knew the voting post and this article were different parts of the same issue.

The article in question was by Carol Howard Merritt, the author of Reframing Hope and Tribal Church. She is a writer and thinker whose work we discuss from time to time in our various office conversations. This particular piece is titled Virtual Community and you can read it here .

Merritt discusses how pastoral care has changed from the days when you could drop in on a congregation member unannounced, or count on mothers to “host Bible studies in their living rooms at 10:00 a.m. every Tuesday.” She talks about the deep and abiding shift that has occurred in our society, and how it has impacted people.

Merritt describes not only how people’s lives have changed, but the different ways they now communicate with their pastors. “The forms of communication are evolving rapidly from emails, to text messaging, to social networking sites—and we are not sure what might be on the horizon” she says. While many may attempt to resist this new world, the truth is that it is too late. The future is here, and whether we lament it or not, that is the world we now live in.

The good news is that, while the internet has risks, it also has many possibilities which can enhance our communication with our members and with each other. In other words, on-line communities and new social media can make our congregational life richer by providing for interaction and communication in addition to what happens on Sundays. While most of us would have no interest in going exclusively to a virtual community, to ignore this dimension of modern life would be a big mistake.

So read the article, then ask yourself how the internet has changed your life in the past 10 years. You may even wish to share those reflections with the rest of us!

Posted by Carman .

Voting

The weeks leading up to this year's municipal election were interesting, and I think I have learned something about the difficulities of the demoncratic process in rural areas. Perhaps I am beginning to understand why voter turn-out in municipal elections is historically so low. At our house we spent several weeks before hand, trying from time to time to determine who the candidates were, and what they stood for. Their communication with their desired constituency seemed to leave much to be desired.

Up to and including the morning of election day, the following is what we had learned. We received one flyer in the mail from the township telling us where and when to vote, and that, “This flyer serves as your household’s voter’s card.” Okay, good start. We now knew we were allowed one vote for mayor, and four for council.

There were a variety of signs around the village and countryside announcing the names of several candidates, but they really didn't tell us anything except that the candidates can put up signs. Who were these people, and what did they stand for?

Our investigation located a document on the township website which told us there were two candidates for mayor (one incumbent), and nine for council. The document listed email addresses for the two mayoral hopefuls, and four of the nine candidates for council. No websites were listed, and a Google search did not revealed any. Hmmm.

We then thought there must be an all-candidates meeting somewhere, so we searched the web for information on one but didn’t find it. Later we learned from a neighbour that there had been one, and she thought she saw a sign somewhere announcing it but wasn’t sure. I don’t know where the sign was, but we certainly didn’t see it. There were no flyers in the mail or posters in the variety store/post office about it, at least that we saw. Unless other people had a better grapevine than we did I am guessing the meeting was probably not very well attended! Our frustration was beginning to build.

Several weeks prior to the election we had one knock on the door from one candidate, who turned out to be a neighbour. He also gave us a flyer with a picture of his family indicating what he supports. He did not spend long, but he came, and we can vote for him. Good Job!

We had one flyer in the mailbox from one of the mayoral candidates (not the incumbent). From it we learned that she has experience on council and was involved with the food bank. Good, I thought. She understands local issues for the poor, and is not afraid to volunteer. I think I can vote for her.

And the flyer was a good sign. Surely the other candidates pieces would be along soon, right? But that was it! Right up to election day, that was the sum-total of communication we received from the eleven candidates running in our municipality!

Then on the morning of election day, Joan went to the post office on her way back from voting, and lo and behold, there were four more flyers in the mail box. I thought, now isn’t that interesting! Since the advance poll was nine days ago, wouldn’t you have thought the candidates would have wanted their information out early?

At the polling booth, we discovered there were five candidates running for the school board. Who knew!

Now, I accept that it is my civic duty to learn about the candidates and be able to make informed decisions about who to vote for. But wouldn't it be easier to do that if the information was readily available? After all, we are all very accustomed to the so called Information Superhighway now, and most of us hardly remember where else to look for information. In this day and age, does anybody have time to chase the candidates for their thoughts? In the 21st century, shouldn't the candidates make the information available on the internet on a site where it is easy to find and in a form where is is readily understood?

Oh well, they are all volunteers, right? They probably didn’t have enough time. At least they are trying.

Is there anything we can learn from this?

Posted by Carman

Appropriate

I’ve been doing some follow up thinking stimulated by last week’s thoughts on Rules.

I’m quoting here: “I realize there is not a rule, at least not a hard and fast rule, and I get that there isn’t even an official guideline, but do you think it’s really appropriate?”

Oh my! How do you answer that one?

Is it possible for something to be appropriate one place and not another? And by that I don’t mean something that’s appropriate on the playground may not be appropriate in a theatre. I mean, is it possible that something is appropriate in my congregation that isn’t in yours?

Don Robb recently shared that he’s now lived in this area long enough to know where he needs to wear a suit and tie to church and where he’s better to be more casual with his Sunday wardrobe. I can now name four congregations where it’s deemed appropriate to bring your little dog into the sanctuary during worship. (As long as it really is little and no one knows it’s there who doesn’t know it’s there.) But by the same token, I’ve recently learned of another congregation where the deacon in charge has ruled that a dog in church is not appropriate!

We do have our local cultures rife with long-standing traditions. It may be traditional to let the pastor make those pesky decisions about what is or isn’t appropriate. But then, it may also be traditional to be annoyed when those rulings turn out to oppose what we, ourselves, think is appropriate. Based upon…I don’t know what!

How do we get clarity on this?

I fall back on my original ruling: talk among yourselves; decide how you’ll decide and stay friends. I think that’s still the most appropriate ruling I can give for most of the questions of propriety being tossed around in many communities I visit.

And if that doesn’t work for you, you can always ask yourself: is this what matters most?

Posted by Marion

Queue

Isn’t that an interesting word? It looks interesting. You write it and you’re not sure that’s really how it’s spelled. And it just sounds like “Q” so why do you need all those other letters anyway?

I’ve been thinking of this word for a few days. It felt like a “good word” but there really wasn’t much to associate with it. It wasn’t forming into a blog post; it’s just been sitting there in my imagination while I’ve been digging for something more to say about it.

I guess my first experience with “lining up” is from my earliest days at school. We lined up at the ringing of the bell to be brought in to the classroom in orderly fashion. “Lining up” required a particular protocol, mainly involving quiet and not poking the person in front. I recall my first day as an elementary school teacher, standing there at the front of those two (yes, properly separated boys and girls) lines of expectant faces, wondering who I was and what we would be experiencing together as the school year unfolded. Usually the girls’ line was the quiet line (without poking) while they waited for the boys to settle down.

Later queue experiences in my life—at the bank, at the grocery store, the license bureau, the passport office, the airport—are not quiet. I tend to visit in a queue. I find it a great place to speak to strangers. What is there about being in a line that encourages the questions: how are you? Where are you off to? How are you dealing with this humidity?

My children used to ask me: do you know that person? In fact, they used to ask me: do you know everybody? And for an introvert such as I, it is somewhat unusual just how comfortable I am with speaking to strangers in a queue.

What is there about a queue? Is it the safety of the limits of the line? We know it’s only going in that direction and at the end we’ll go our separate ways. I do like speaking to people in a line. I like making that little connection. Life is about making connections after all. It might even be good practice at reducing the fears Carman wrote about recently. After all, we are all God’s children, moving unavoidably through life towards the inevitable “same place.” Might as well be present with each other as we inch along.

Think about that, the next time you find yourself in a queue.

Posted by Marion

Attention!

Today is our birthday! Our first anniversary as a blogging entity. One year ago today we went public with What's the Good Word after spending a month test-driving the medium. I wanted to make sure I could actually think of something to say, five days a week (I gave us a sabbath from the beginning; time to catch our breath without the pressure of the deadline). Oh, I knew there was plenty of good news to share, but creating a little "gem" to publish every single day was somewhat daunting.

I need not have worried. Carman joined me as a regular contributor in July with Transformation and by August was also very much sharing the load. He often speaks/writes of the "synchronicity" he observes as our relationship with the blog and its readers unfolds. We hardly ever consult each other about what we will say, what we're likely to post the next day, even "whose turn is it?" It just seems to happen.

Nevertheless, this morning's word: Attention! refers to the greatest gift I've received from writing this piece day after day for the past year. A Buddhist would call it mindfulness and it truly is a great gift! Knowing somewhere in the back of my mind (sometimes in the front as publication time loomed!) that I need to identify the next "good word" and a way to share it that might stimulate thought, or conversation, means I've had to cultivate an attitude of paying attention, of being mindful.

I believe this is the reason Carman and I have not needed to give much energy to collaborating, or conferring about the direction of the Blog. Living in the community as we do, thinking about what matters most for that community, listening to the joys and sorrows that preoccupy our people, has meant that the words that come are the right ones--at least they aren't the wrong ones.

We often ask for your comments, but we really aren't much concerned if you don't because we've heard your live feedback, or we know you're paying attention as well. And that's good for now.

Of course, as I suggested on our facebook page, a real posted comment once in awhile would be a nice gift. But for me, the best gift has been the opportunity to share with you each day and to enjoy the gift of attention it has added to my life as your chief Blogger.

Happy Anniversary everyone, and here's to another good year listening for The Good Word!

Posted by Marion

Paper

As I've been considering how to recognize our one year "blogiversary" this week I've happened upon the list of traditional anniversary gifts. I note the touch of irony in the first year gift: paper. While we've been producing a year of written offerings, not one of them was offered on the traditional medium of paper. Not one of these posts was created or delivered on paper.

Most of us have heard the question: paper or plastic? And many of us have moved beyond both and try to remember to bring our own cloth or other reusable shopping bag. In the office, the question is more likely to be: paper or electronic? We try to reduce the amount of paper by shifting to electronic files and communication wherever possible. I recently dealt with a smart young woman offering a quote to wash my windows. "We don't do paper. If you need a copy, I'll email you" was her very sensible statement.

I really don't need more paper in my house. It accumulates beyond my capacity to control it! Piles of paper--newspapers, magazines, letters from charities and businesses soliciting my attention, junk mail and advertising flyers threaten my efforts to declutter.

And yet, I do love paper. As a writer I cherish a good pen and a lovely notebook. Even a good old-fashioned scribbler cries out to be filled up with lists, notes, ideas for stories, sermons, lines of poetry. Nothing is more dear--or more menacing--to a writer, than a blank sheet of paper.

I think we still are in a very long transition period between paper and something else. Some of our readers still beg for a paper copy. They want a newsletter, or a paper receipt, or a print copy of something that really only is available (at least for convenience, cost and efficiency) electronically. Does the auditor really need a paper trail for everything? What about the historian? Where will future historians find the stories we tell if they're all stored on some disk, or email archive or lost in the ether of the blogosphere? I believe historians are truly troubled by the question.

But for What's the Good Word, this is the way we'll proceed. Each day, Carman or I will sit down in front of this blank electronic "box" and we'll write a New Post, and hit the word Publish. Our thoughts will vanish from our screen and go out to you, our dear readers. No paper copy, no print version, no collected works or anthologies, just a thought, an idea, a question or a concept from one mind to another.

What will you do with it? It's yours now. Have a good day.

Posted by Marion

Pull

How many times have you walked up to a door and tried to Push your way in only to come up short in your path because there, clearly written, was the word "Pull"? How many times have you even tried again, pushing a bit harder, somewhere in your unconscious possibly believing the door is stuck or something is wrong? Push! Push! Then feeling foolish as you realize it's right there in front of you--the clear instruction to Pull.

We here at CEM along with the Merrie Bande of Bishops are beginning to work on the 2020 Vision strategies. The first of a series of get-togethers with a sampling of congregations happened Sunday with the Brydges congregation in east London. You'll be hearing more as we branch out into other areas, meeting with congregations gathering data and shaking things up a bit. Keep your antennae up; someone might just be coming your way! Or call if you'd like to take part.

One thought I've had as I've been mulling over some things we heard there has to do with the idea of Push and Pull. Folks were thinking about "what they need from the Mission" and we Mission people were thinking of all the things we want to do for them, and for you. We plan and work out things to offer, messages to send, announcements to publish, resources we collect and how we push, push, push those things your way. But sometimes, no matter how much one may push, the action that is really needed is the Pull from the other end.

I really hope this blog, for example, is part of an ever-growing conversation keeping us connected with one another. Some of the feedback I get tells me this is beginning to happen. (More feedback might help it be even better.) But we can only push it out in your direction. It it's going to be helpful at all, somebody needs to pull on the receiving end. Just like some of the other "products" we offer.

Let's make sure this partnership is as good as it can be. Let's share the push/pull tasks and create something amazing.



Posted by Marion

Prattle

I'm borrowing this great word from the lead article in the Ottawa congregation's newsletter.

"Pastor Pam's Prattle" starts off this very newsy collection of summer events--including some great pictures!--and announcements of things to come. This is a busy and active congregation!

I suspect if you email Carol at carol.shepherdson@sympatico.ca you could get on their mailing list.

If you want to know what's up in the southwest corner of the Mission, send a note to Elaine at ejaques@amtelcom.net for a copy of the latest Eleven O'clock News that has recently gone electronic as well.

If other areas or congregations want to share the prattle from your neck of the woods, just let me know and I'll get the word out.

And a very big thank you to those who've taken on the responsibility to manage the communications for your folks. This is one of the things that help build that community we've been reflecting upon.