Thanksgiving (II)

Frivolity—On Thursday morning, Bonita and Kadie took the kids to the Houston Day parade while Bartolo, Steve, Dad and I sat around and talked prepared for the Thanksgiving meal. The kids loved the parade, but then stood in shock as they got home and watched the exact same (tape delayed) parade on television. Bonita is especially good at finding fun things for her nieces to do. They colored Thanksgiving cards for everyone, assembled numerous ornaments, and decorated a Christmas tree under her direction. I am certain that Bonita violated several child labor laws, but she’s a lawyer and can deal with the feds. (Plus the kids all loved it.)

Shopping on Black Friday presented a dilemma. Sleep in or get up far too early for the purpose of great savings. After much high-level negotiation, we decided not to go out shopping early Friday morning. Although we were also sorely tempted by the filthy lucre of the $250.00 laptops that ensnared Dave and his son, we ultimately opted not to go out. Our conclusion was that arriving at a store at 4:00 am is never the “Best” Buy. Essentially: sloth trumped greed.

Fun—Sunday evening we attended opening night of the Behold the Lamb of God (scroll down to listen) tour by Andrew Peterson. He and some friends apparently get together and perform a musical concert that traces the promise of the coming King from the old testament into the new. I enjoyed the performance, but my favorite part of the evening was the first music set. Peterson and several members of the Square Peg Alliance musical team performed for us. Each person performed two songs and they rotated their performances so that (as Peterson said) “If you really dislike one of us, just wait a minute and someone else will be performing.” I enjoyed each of the performers, though my favorites were Peterson, Derek Webb (of Caedmon’s Call fame) and a new (to me) guy, Andy Gullahorn. Gullahorn in particular was interesting because he was funny (always a plus) and also was very honest in his music. I had the distinct impression that he was more a Christian who happens to make music than a Christian Musician with all the baggage that it implies (grist for a future blog entry). My favorite part of his website is the haiku reviews he has composed of his own concerts. Here's an example:

8-22-06 SPA Show Nashville, TN

Let us just pretend
All of that feedback we heard
Was angels singing

Scooter and Skeeter enjoyed the concert immensely, and it was only later that I realized that it was their first one. I was pleased to be there with them. If the tour comes by your neck of the woods, I encourage you to go by…(and by the way, if you would like to download a free Derek Webb CD (legally) then click here. Offer ends December 1). Sorry Bartolo, it is the same one you just purchased at the concert:(

Overall it was a fantastic weekend. I was reminded yet again of the importance of family. I regret that we live so far away from my brother and sister-in-law...

Thanksgiving Weekend

A tremendous weekend at the Casa de Bartolo y Bonita in Houston.

Five F's for all of my alliterative friends.

We had Family:

In addition to myself and our brood, my parents and youngest brother came down on Wednesday. My youngest brother Steve is fifteen and knows all. He’s currently working on his driver’s license and was driving the car when they were pulled over:

Officer: May I please see your license and registration?

Steve: Her it is, sir. (My parents are arguing in the background)

Officer: Did you know that your tail-light is out and your proof of insurance is out of date??

Steve: “Perhaps you’d like to talk to my parents…”

The officer let him off with a warning…

I really enjoyed Steve at this meeting. He, Bartolo and I played basketball with my Dad for about the first time ever. We played Horse (which Steve suggested we change to “Loser” because of our embarrassing play) and even some two-on-two in a local park. I don’t recall us ever doing this before. Steve is a good eighteen years younger than Bartolo and twenty-two years younger than myself. Since Steve was born the same year I got married, we’ve never lived in the same house together. I’m looking forward to other opportunities to hang out with him. Modesty prevents me from mentioning who utterly dominated on the court.

We had Food:

We had a great Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings. The centerpiece of the meal was a culinary dish Bartolo created called “Trash Can Turkey.” Results were…interesting. I should have some pics up tomorrow. Bonita and Bartolo graciously accommodated our new weird diet, and put us up for five days (not an inexpensive proposition with three kiddos)

We had Football:

Bartolo actually uttered the phrase “I think we’ve seen enough football” late Sunday evening. On Thanksgiving we watched the Cowboys crush the Bucs. All hail Tony Romo! (Geez, even Achilles had his heel, I haven't seen Romo's weakness yet). We skipped the Lion’s game. (Does anyone ever actually watch that game??) Then that evening we saw a bit of the BC/Miami game. On Friday we watched UT lose to A&M—Bartolo is an Aggie, so much rejoicing accompanied their win. On Saturday we went to the Rice-SMU game and joined a joyous throng as Rice completed an improbable season as they defeated the ponies from Dallas. Sunday we watched the Texans stink it up and caught a bit of the Patriots-Bears matchup.

Around and between all of these games Bartolo, Steve and myself played Madden 2006 football. None of us play it that much, so we were whipped pretty soundly.

(Tomorrow--Frivolitry and Fun!)

The Service (II)

“I am not absolutely certain that God called me to leave Susan Song” began Brother Jones. I was shocked to hear this, but no one else had much of a reaction. He continued “…but looking back on it, I am sure that it was the best for me and for the church.” The text of his sermon was Acts 21 when Paul is saying goodbye to his friends shortly before his arrest. His message was very conversational and Brother Jones mentioned several people by name. Many tears were shed.

He talked about the (much needed) new siding they had put on the church, and about the bright sign that the church placed in the front (a sign that generates much pride in the church and community). These events marked the physical evidences from his ministry. Brother Jones also spent time recounting the emotional and spiritual legacies he leaves behind. He talked a bit about walking through the valley of the shadow with several families who lost loved ones. In short, his message was perfect for the occasion.

He concluded by simply looking at me and saying “Brother Taran, what do I do now?”I had Brother Jones and his wife stand at the front of the sanctuary while the church gathered around them and prayed for them. I then offered a benediction and a blessing on the meal following the service. We then retired to the fellowship hall and feasted on a Susan Song potluck meal. During the meal we were surrounded by posters full of pictures of the weddings, baptisms and visits that he had performed while at Susan Song. In the corner there was a video of a musical the church had performed while he was pastor. So as we dined on potluck brisket and potatoes and mac and cheese, we were surrounded by eight years of ministry. At the end of the afternoon, Rev. Jones thanked me for convincing him to come back. Several church members remarked on how wonderful the day’s events had been.

It was a very, very gratifying day.

The Service (I)

The day of the service, there was an unusual edge of excitement. When I arrived, Brother Jones was already there. It is an odd feeling when there is a pastor and a former pastor present at the same service. We each have our own ritual of meeting folks and shaking hands at the beginning of the service. I remember once at Lone Oak Baptist that a former pastor came back to preach. It was an odd feeling right before the service as the two of us worked the room.

A lot of new faces came out for Brother Jones' return. Our normal congregation of a dozen swelled up to thirty or more as his large, extended family descended on the church. There were several members present whom I had never seen. Brother Jones' two sons were there with their wives and kids.

The service was designed to reflect on the work that God did through brother Jones during his time at Susan Song Baptist. I tried to design the service so that it would be a worship service and for us to keep our focus on what the Lord did over the last eight years, not on what Jones did. This was an important distinction that I think the church generally did a good job keeping.

I offered the welcome and thanked Jones and his family for coming. I also read from Ecclesiastes 3 “For every thing there is a season” to introduce the idea of seasons of life for congregations. I thanked Smith for his time of service and invoked the Lord to be present in the service. Then I got out of the way and sat on the back row.

We followed our traditional hymns, but interspersed two testimonies in the service. One was from Mrs. Carpenter whose husband passed away after a lengthy illness. She shared with the congregation how dedicated Bro. Jones was during this difficult time in her life. She talked about how much time he spent at the hospital and how he prayed often with her during this difficult time in her life.

We then sang a few more hymns and Mrs. Landry stood up and shared how encouraging Brother Jones’ family had been over the previous eight years. Plus Brother Jones had married her daughter and her son-in-law. (Which led to the typical SBC humor “Thank you brother Jones for marrying my daughter. Tee hee hee!”)

After Mrs. Carpenter, I prepared to sing the next hymn. But from my perch on the back row, I suddenly saw Mrs. Nelson stand up and say “I know that I wasn’t supposed to say anything, but I really need to share what is on my heart.” She then shared how Brother Jones stopped her after a church service and asked if he could pray with her. “If you would not have stopped me, I never would’ve come back to this church.”

Another seven or eight people stood and shared how much Brother Jones meant to them as the Spirit moved. Many wept as they shared with him how much he meant to them. The time of testimony was holy and cathartic at the same time. Following this tremendously encouraging time was the sermon. All of the love and emotion expressed during the testimonies led to a tremendous sense of expectation when brother Jones reached the pulpit.

So I almost fell out of my pew when the first words out of his mouth were “I am not completely sure that God called me to leave Susan Song as Pastor…”

Eating Pizza (II)

After discussing his ministry history, Brother Jones abruptly brought up the reason for our lunch. “What do you want from me?” he said.

I didn’t expect that question, but tried to recover quickly. “I would like you and your family to come back to the church and let us have a time together to celebrate the ministry that God has done through you over the last eight years at Susan Song.”

“Well, the truth is I don’t really need that.” he responded. “I mean, that church is a good church and although I was there for eight years I don’t need any kind of special ceremony.”

I thought for a moment.

“Brother Jones,” I said carefully “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way. But I do want you to understand that my interest is not primarily in what you do or do not need. I am a lot more concerned about the church. And they need closure. Whether you need this or not is irrelevent.”

I wondered how he would take this.

“The problem was. I didn’t know how to leave. So when I reached my decision, I just left.” he said quietly. “I mean, what point is there in staying at a church any longer after you decide to go? ” I wasn’t sure if this question was rhetorical or not, so I nodded and took another bite of pepperoni pizza.

“So what exactly do I need to do?” he asked, with some resignation.

I replied “All I want you to do is to come back for a service. Preach the message, and let us have a meal with you and your family afterwards. It will be a time of celebration as you let the church love on you and your family a little bit.”

He chewed this over in his mind as he chewed the cheese pizza in his hand.

I tried another tactic. “Do you realize that Mrs. Bernice and David and Sharon weren’t even there the Wednesday night you resigned? The feel that they really didn’t get to say good-bye because they missed that one Wednesday night.”

Pause.

“Plus you just told me that as a young man you swore to God that if anyone ever asked you to preach that you would do so.”

After I said this last line, great gusts of laughter same rumbling out of his throat. “Brother Taran, right after I told you that, I thought I’d regret it. And I sure do!” he laughed.

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll come and preach to the church. We can stay around and eat afterwards. That’s something we really love to do anyways” he said as he patted his belly.

But then he turned serious. His eyes moistened as he carefully said “But the truth is, this church walked with us during some difficult days when my mother died. They held me up while my wife was sick for those seven months. They encouraged me and loved on me more than you can imagine. Brother Taran, the truth is they ministered to me, far more than I ever ministered to them. The have loved me and my family for years and have kept me going through some very, very difficult times.”

I paused for a moment, realizing that we were on holy ground as we sat in the non-smoking section.

I said simply “They really need to hear you say that.”

And he nodded.

Eating Pizza (I)

As I entered the hole-in-the-wall pizzeria, I immediately spotted Brother Jones, even though we’d never met. He was big, a Mack truck of a man. I had been told that he was huge—not fat, but big. But I was immediately glad that I was only paying for his buffet. His head was shaved and we locked eyes immediately as I walked in the room, pushing past the smoking section and over to him.

“Brother Taran” he said. I nodded and he continued “I wondered how I would recognize you.” He laughed nervously. We shook hands and immediately headed for the buffet, I had a diet coke with my pizza, while he had a regular. We sat down, prayed, and then began to talk.

"I'm as nervous as a cat" he said absently.

Without my prompting, he shared with me the more recent struggles that he and his wife have had. They have taken in numerous foster kids, especially teenagers and his voice wavered as he mentioned how much pain some of these kids have been through. He told me about one pair of sisters who were with them whose house had been in such a state of filth that even I had read about it in the local paper. His heart was even bigger than his body.

I asked him to tell me about his call to the ministry. He said he felt called at the age of thirty-five. He grew up in a rural town outside the city and attended country churches his whole life. While taking on greater responsibilities in the various churches he was a member of, he struggled with learning the “accepted way” of Baptist life. For example, he attended one ordination service and the minister conducting the service asked the candidate about the King James Version of the Bible. The candidate responded that the KJV was the only acceptable translation and that all the other versions were “of the devil.” Brother Jones then quietly hid his own New International Version from sight.

“God told me” he said “that if ever a man came and asked me to preach, I’d say ‘Yes!’ Several years later I was asked to preach at a small, country church. I pastored there for two hard years.”

He then shared with me his eight years of ministry at Susan Song. It was his second church, but by far his longest pastorate. It had been an exciting, and a difficult time. It started off well. They fixed up the church grounds and began to work on the outside of the church. They added a new sign that he bought in an auction for $100.00. They fixed it up for $300.00 and a church member ran the electrical line to the sign. It is the biggest sign in town and lights up the country night every evening. Pride was evident in his voice when he described the early years there.

Finishing History

We've been wrapping up the church history at Susan Song lately.

I’ve had a hard time tracking down the previous pastor of Susan Song. As I’ve mentioned before, Brother Jones left rather suddenly. He showed up on a Wednesday evening for prayer meeting and said “Tonight is my last night as your pastor.” And walked out the door.

The impact on the church was substantial. They wondered the real reason why he left. People in the community stopped them in the grocery store and asked “What did ya’ll do to run him off?” The hardest part for the church members was to say “I don’t know what we did” and to wonder the answer to that question as well.

So after arriving I decided to track Brother Jones down and find out his thoughts on the church. I also wanted to invite him back for a celebration of his ministry that would provide closure for his time with the church. But I was warned by some of the church members that “He won’t talk to you and certainly won’t come back here!”

So I got his phone number and began to call him and leave messages with his wife. I tried unsuccessfully for a period of several months (August through October) to get in touch with him. I was unsuccessful. But then my secretary entered into the picture.

About ten years ago she was in his Sunday School class at another church. So she knew him and knew about my intentional interim ministry at his church. She also had not seen him for eight years. Around a month ago, she and her family went to breakfast at McDonald’s and ran into him.

After initial greetings, he mentioned that he had recently resigned as pastor at Susan Song after an eight year ministry. She said “I know, and do you want to know how I knew that? It’s because my boss is the intentional interim pastor there. And he’s been trying to talk to you for weeks.”

Brother Jones said “Oh…”

He then said something along the lines of “I guess if I ran into you after ten years, maybe God wants me to do something.

And the next time I called Brother Jones he answered the phone and we set up a meeting.

We would, as he said, “Break pizza together.”

Confirmation that I was right to destroy my BOA Card

Reason #4,867 to eliminate your credit cards:

So that Bank of American employees with no longer have time to put things like this together.

http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2006/11/how_bank_of_ame.html

(There is far more of a praise and worhip feel to this video than to some churches I know...)

Tenure Thoughts (Service)

Service is simply the non-teaching, non-research work that the faculty member performs in support of the mission of the university or your field. It usually takes the form of committee work. It can include working on any aspect of university life. For example:

--Hiring committees (composes job advertisements, gets their approval form Human Resources, and searches for new faculty.

--Courses and Curriculum (approves modifications to current courses or new ones. It also works on new program offerings).

--SACS (our accrediting agency) compliance committee

Etc.

Service records those activities that no one really wants to do but need to get done in order for the university to run (semi)efficiently. The strange thing is, (actually, and this is mind boggling) I have encountered some people who LOVE committee meetings. They sit and linger, they hope that it continues on and on. There is rarely an agenda and when there is, people add to it willy-nilly and suck up the available amount of time.

I don’t get it.

The only thing more boring than these meetings would be a post about the meetings!!

Tenure Thoughts (II)

I think that research is critical to the academic enterprise. It is also the most quantifiable of the three divisions. Research includes articles, book reviews, books, presentations, and other scholarly activity. But the specific requirements for research is perhaps the most specific to the university. For example, many SBC institutions would (quite naturally) include contributions to the Biblical Illustrator (the journal that assists Sunday School teachers) as scholarly, but not many other schools. There is also a clear division between the Evangelical Theological Society and the American Academy of Religion or Society of Biblical Literature. ETS would not be considered an appropriate level of scholarship at many state institutions and even some denominational schools. (I haven’t attended a meeting there, but I do know some fine academics engaged in that society).

But essentially the tenure committee looks for the fact that the professor continues to be engaged in critical scholarship. This would be the equivalent of continuing education credits offered in many professional organizations. The average school requires two or three articles (over six years), four or five professional presentations and numerous book reviews. Some upper level schools require two books (assuming one is the dissertation, and at least a contract on a second). Obviously these are gross overgeneralizations.

At my institution, we probably require a little less than average in this area. A few articles and a few presentations would qualify for tenure, although recently we have had several candidates for tenure who had a book contract in hand.

As for me and my house, I am a bit light in the article department (1 plus a few encyclopedia entries) but I do have a dozen or so presentations at regional and national meetings as well as several book reviews. What cinches it for me (I hope)is that I do have a book coming out next spring by a university press. It is a book on the Psalms (of course). That should complete my research case for tenure.