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.

Real Beauty

I work alongside many artists. Because some in our department teach computer aided graphic design, I knew a bit about how pictures of models are "touched up" for magazine covers and advertisements. But there is something remarkable about watching it happen.

I viewed this video with Scooter and Skeeter and we talked about beauty in contemporary Western culture. It was very helpful in illustrating how artificial popular conceptions of beauty are.

Tenure Thoughts

There are some technical requirements for tenure. Generally the faculty member must possess a terminal degree. In addition, the faculty member must have served a particular length of time (usually six years) at the rank of assistant professor, although this can be negotiated. There are also some specific requirements that will vary from institution to institution.

But at most universities, including my own, the requirements for tenure fall into three broad areas: teaching, research, and service. There is also an unwritten category generally called collegiality.

In my school, teaching is an absolute prerequisite for tenure. You can be weak in one or more of the other areas and still get tenure. But if you are weak in the classroom, it is very, very difficult. At research institutions, other areas are paramount, but at many smaller Liberal Arts institutions, teaching is the main mission of the university.

Teaching is, however, notoriously difficult to measure. Basically we attempt to measure teaching by student surveys and by peer evaluations. Student surveys are very flawed mechanisms (for example they presuppose that students know good teaching when they see it!). But they do show at least the student perception of the teacher. Peer evaluations occur when a senior level faculty member observes a junior faculty member actually teach a class. These evaluations are less helpful as they are very artificial. The whole classroom dynamic changes when there is an observer present.

Oh and there is also http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/. The teaching profession really hates that website.

On Jobs and Fulfillment

I’m drawn to some of the darker texts in the bible. Ecclesiastes, some of the Psalms and Job are the film noir of the Old Testament. But I was struck by the comfort and wisdom found in Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

“For this is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot. Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil—this is the gift of God. For they will scarcely brood over the days of their lives, because God keeps them occupied with the joy of their hearts.”

Almost every person I know, in and out of the ministry, is dissatisfied with their current job or looking forward to their next job more than they are to their current position.

One whom God grants fulfillment in their occupation is richly blessed indeed.

On Tenure

Since I have been consumed with this lately, I thought I would blog about my approaching request for tenure. Tenure is a right, granted to professors to teach in an environment where they needn’t fear retribution for the content of their teaching. Academic freedom is the catch phrase that is used to justify this practice. Tenure gives the faculty member protection from job-related repercussions of the content of their teaching, and (theoretically) can not be taken away.

Essentially it boils down to the idea that faculty (or certain administrators) cannot be fired for what they teach or who they cross in the day to day responsibilities of their employment. Tenured faculty can only be terminated for grossly abusing their responsibilities as professors (not showing up for work, or continued practice of detrimental dealings with students) or due to extreme financial hardship on the university (which happened to some tenured faculty in Louisiana after Katrina). It has also been declared in the case of at least one Baptist college.

Although there is much discussion on both sides, I (unsurprisingly) think that it is an important (if severely flawed) instrument. It frees faculty to express thoughts and opinions that can goad institutions or the larger society in important directions. I also think that it is this reason that it is virtually nonexistent at institutions connected to the Southern Baptist Convention. Although Art has recently discussed the concept of academic freedom at SBC seminaries, but the reality is that it has been diminishing for years at SBC insitutions.

In my case, working at a state insisution provides me more freedom than my colleague at many Baptist colleges and more than at all seminaries.

But how do you ensure that tenure is not awarded improperly or to the undeserving? Some thoughts tomorrow…

Scooter Conversation

Due to an evening meeting, I was able to come home early in the afternoon yesterday. When I walked in the door at three, Scooter was already there:

Scooter: "DADDY! You're home early!!!!"

Taran (pleased with her excitement): "Yes, I got off work early today!!"

Scooter: "Did you get fired?????"

Taran: "Thanks kid. Thanks a lot."

Mancation

What a great weekend!! My brother, Bartolo, and I shared a fantastic Mancation. A mancation is a time of getting away from normal responsibilities to hang out with each other.* We went to Dallas, Texas and spent much time in book stores (Bartolo is also afflicted with an affinity for books) and watching every second of every baseball playoff game on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. Capping off our weekend we went to see the Cowboys thrash the Texans (which pleased me but depressed my brother). (Cheese)Life is so busy and relationships are of such low priority that we spend far to little time with those we love most. (/cheese). It was a great time.

*Note, I Googled the term mancation and ended up with many definitions that involved much drunken revelry and general debauchery. Such activities did not characterize our mancation…alas.

Social Studies Exam

Scooter and I were studying for her social studies exam on Egypt. We studied about Akhenaten (no, not that one) Ra, and Nefertiti. But Scooter couldn't quite get the importance of King Tutankhamen (no, not that one), who had a fairly uneventful reign.


Of course, I had to explain that King Tut was actually born in Arizonia before he moved to Babylonia. She was puzzled until, thanks to the wonders of YouTube...





After we watched it she was silent for a second and then said "Isn't that the guy from Cheaper by the Dozen 2?"

Goodbye to the Fanksy Poon

Corporal punishment has made our home a less chaotic place.

We made the decision several years ago that we would spank the kids only when their actions placed their lives in danger. So Scooter and Skeeter received spankings pretty rarely—essentially only for things like walking out into the street or running away from us in a public place. That system worked very well and we’ve not had to spank either of them in years.

And then we had a son.

We started out with the same general principle for Squealer that we did for the girls. But after about three years, we realized that we were going to have to change tactics. Despite his abhorrence for time outs, Squealer often ignores them and continues to repeat the behavior that led to them. So with that in mind, we began to utilize a small wooden spoon to swat his behind when he repeatedly transgressed his limitations. We initially called it the “Spanky Spoon,” but Squealer couldn’t pronounce that so he refers to it as the “Fanksy Poon” (and of course, we all began to refer to it as Fanksy Poon as well).

But Squealer has matured to the point where a wooden spoon not longer accomplishes is corporal task. Because of this fact, I made one purchase during the rummage sale of which I am particularly proud. I purchased a sturdy paddle from an old ball and paddle game.

I have named it Mr. Buster. Scooter and Squealer took great delight in drawing a mean face on it. The face is frowning and saying the words "Squealer, get back in bed!!"

I’ll let you know when it is ummm…… broken in.

Susan Song Update

The intentional interim process continues at Susan Song Baptist. The church had never planned out a calendar of upcoming events before, so we began that process and it has taken us a few weeks. When we finish the year (next Wednesday) I’ll ask them to look over the calendar and see how many events they have planned that do not concern fellowship. I think that it will be a good tool to help them see their identity.

Last weekend we held a community-wide rummage sale in order to pay the insurance for the church (which runs around $1,500.00 a year). We raised $900 which was a great start. I worked the sale and enjoyed getting to see the people from the church in their natural habitat, away from the Sunday morning service.

I am still trying to reach the former pastor for lunch. He has not been returning my phone calls although I found out form a mutual friend that he has received them. I will try one more time and then write him a letter. I think that it will be good for the church if he returns to the church and lets us celebrate his ministry. Those who know him say that he has a great sense of anxiety.

I hope that he overcomes it!

Final Thoughts on Ramsey

I've thought more about finances in the last two years than I have in my previous thirty-five. Some final thoughts:

1) I am amazed at how pervasive debt is today. School debt, car debt, and a thirty year mortgage (or fifty????!!!!) is the norm. That is a lot of money flying out the door each month. A colleague of mine leased a new car recently. We're close and he knew of our plan. He said "I don't consider a car payment an option. You have to have one and I'll have one the rest of my life." We've decided to get off this debt merry-go-round.

2)The greatest feeling about sloughing off our debt like so much dead skin is the flexibility it has given us. We can now respond to impending crises by rechanneling our money from investments to stockpiling cash when the demands of life appear. We can respond to immediate crises by using our emergency fund. That flexibility feels very liberating.

3) We also have more money to give. Ramsey is big on tithing and while we've been on his plan we've given money to the work of our church like we've never been in a position to give before.

4) My profession is infested with debt. Student debt is rising astronomically, with the average undergrad completing their degree with $19,000.00 in debt. Life is no better for graduate students either. I am concerned about students who go heavily in debt to get into a profession that won't allow them to pay it off in a reasonable length of time.

5) Ramsey's plan isn't perfect. My main criticism is that it is pretty cookie-cutter in its approach. He is a lot stronger on getting out of debt than he is on investing. Probably because so many more people need to get out of debt than they need to invest.

6) Finally, I think one great appeal about Ramsey is the power of his personal narrative. He was a millionaire before the age of thirty, lost it all, and was a millionaire again before forty. The experience of going bankrupt seared into his personality an aversion to debt. Being anti-debt is now a crusade for him.

His plan is simple, but not easy. It is also is not instant wealth or get-rich quick. It is methodical, and takes decades to achieve financial goals. It is simple, but not easy.

As he says "I sell crock-pots, not microwaves."

Why not give it a shot? I would recommend starting by reading The Total Money Makeover.

Baby Steps Four, Five, and Six (VII)

These three steps are carried out simultaneously.

Step Four is 15% of gross income into retirement. We've been putting only 8% of my income into retirement, so we really need to kick this up. We are in the process of setting up an automatic draft into some Roth IRA's for this. Ramsey recommends Roth because it grows tax free. I'd rather pay the taxes now rather than later because I know that I have the money now. Who knows how things will look in thirty years??

Step Five is saving for kid's college. Regrettably, the school system I work for does not pay for tuition for dependants. (I literally do not know of another system or school that does NOT provide tuition assistence for faculty kiddos). We are on our own. Our goal, starting next year, is to save up $2000.00 per kid, per year into an Educational Savings Account. That won't pay for Harvard, but it will get them started. Scooter (at age 11) is the one I'm mostly concerned about paying for. Our goal is to pay off the house by the time she begins so that we can work to cash flow her first year. Which brings us to...

Step Six is to pay off the house early. Ramsey recommends no more than a 15 year fixed rate mortgage, which was the only thing we were doing correctly when we began his program. At this stage, he advises you to pay what extra amount that you can on the balance. We have about 12 years left on the note now and will really work to pay it off in seven years. We are starting off this year by paying an extra $80.00 a month which will pay a bit more than an extra payment per year. Obviously we will need to increase that to meet our goal.

Final thoughts tomorrow...

Baby Step Three (VI)

The third baby step is to build up your emergency fund to 3-6 months of expenses. This is a general rule of thumb that I've seen recommended in some other places as well. Since Kadie (the nurse) and I have reasonably (ummm...mostly) secure jobs, we opted for the three month expenses emergency fund.

For us, that equates to about $12,000. In some ways, this step was the hardest. It took almost as long as Baby Step two, but without the gratification of seeing our debts evaporate. Plus, I must confess that we were not as diligent and focused as we were on Step Two. One gets lax when the wolf is no longer at the door.

It took us until September to save up the money. But now we've done it. We've put $2,000.00 in our local credit union (earning nothing) and the other $10,000.00 into a Capitol One Money Market account (earning 4.8% interest). We figured it would be nice to earn some interest off them for once.

We celebrated tonight at the same Japanese Steak House. Squealer enjoys the open flames. He's got some pyromania in him!

Baby Steps One and Two (V)

So Kadie and I made some plans. First, we decided not to get the minivan fixed right away. We waited for a month to save up the money to repair it. My parents graciously loaned us a car for that month. Kadie then signed onto a contract and began to work extra shifts to generate the $3,300.00 for the new car engine.

We then turned our attention to Ramsey’s plan.

Baby step one was the easiest. Dave suggests $1,000.00 in your baby emergency fund. We had around $1,200.00 in the bank, so this was the easiest of our goals to meet. We pulled out $200.00 to throw at our debts and turned our attention to paying off debt.

Baby step two was the hardest. Ramsey says to lay out your debts, from smallest to largest, (except for your mortgage) and then begin to pay them off. Our debt snowball looked something like this:

$200.00 Bank of America Credit Card
$380.00 Discover Card
$1,100.00 Best Buy computer payment (at a lovely 0% interest)
$17,520.00 Our 2005 Saturn VUE

In March of 2005 we began to pay off these debts. We started with the lowest and worked our way through them. Ramsey reccomends starting with the lowest total amount (as opposed to highest interest rate) in order to make some quick progress.

The toughest debt (obviously) was the car. We purchased the car in November and then took charge of our debt the following spring. Dave recommends keeping the car if you can pay off all your debts within 18 months of starting his plan. We figured that we could meet those guidelines.

And we did it. Kadie worked a few contracts and we cut our expenditures down substantially. We stretched our paychecks and tightened the screws on our budgets. Instead of taking an extended road trip for a vactaion (like to Colorado or Virginia, as we had in past summers) we stayed at a relatives home for a weekend. That was our "big" vacation. We spent more time at home and our riding bikes.

The last month, January of 2006, was the toughest. In that last month our microwave died (it was a wedding gift that had survived 14 years of culinary abuse); our dish-washer died; and our garbage disposal died (right after I had installed our new dish washer, Kadie was CERTAIN that I had screwed something up); and Kadie had her debit card stolen at work (amusingly, they went out and immediately began buying gas. It was when gas hovered in the $2.80’s).

So despite the challenges, we paid off all our debts by November, as well as the $3,300 for the rebuilt minivan engine. When we took our last payment check to the post office to put it in the mail we brought Skeeter, Scooter and Squealer all into the lobby to help us drop it in. And then to celebrate as a family we went out to eat at a really nice Japanese steak house.

And yes, we paid in cash.

Implementing the Plan (IV)

Kadie and I had to make several changes to how we approached our finances. But the first thing we had to do was simply to pay attention. Due to our exceptional fiscal laziness, we had not kept good track of our finances. Here’s one example: When I started my current job, I was given the choice of receiving my pay over the course of twelve months or over the course of nine. We chose twelve months…or at least we thought we did. Actually we were being paid over nine months but didn’t even realize it. So when February rolled around I suddenly realized that my pay would end in another two months. I grew concerned that our kids would start getting hungry after that last paycheck.

Fortunately, due to summer school and Kadie picking up some extra shifts, we survived. That story is but one account of our inattention to our finances. Miraculously we survived, but have never felt any sense of financial stability. We realized that we initially needed to follow two suggestions of Ramsey.

First: the dreaded budget. We sat down and worked out a budget. Actually, Kadie wrote out the budget and then we went over it. Ramsey suggests that one spouse is usually more detail oriented than the other…he refers to them as the nerd. Kadie was a math major before she transferred to nursing school, so we each felt comfortable with her crunching the numbers.

As noted earlier, I am what Ramsey refers to as the free spirit, not often bound by details. But the free spirit has to make a change in the budget. That gives us ownership in the budget too. So I made a small change and we had our first budget.

Our second choice was to go with the envelope system. This is a collection of envelopes into which you divide up things that you normally pay cash for. In our case we established envelopes for entertainment, grocery, clothes, allowance for the kids, and gifts. We then placed a certain amount of cash in each envelope after every paycheck. When the envelope is empty…well, that’s it until you get paid again. The kids (and our friends!) have gotten used to us declining dining invitations with “Sorry, we’d love to but the envelope is empty!” I particularly found this helpful as a visual reminder that money is limited. It hurts more to pay with cash than it does to pay with a credit or debit card. More than anything else, this has forced us to live within our means.

Next: Our debts!!

Outlining The Plan (III)

Dave Ramsey’s plan consists of seven steps, which he calls baby steps to illustrate their simplicity (he stole the term from this film).

Baby Step One: Save $1,000.00 in the bank as a baby emergency fund.

Baby Step Two: List all of your debts from smallest to largest. Begin paying the smallest debt off first, paying minimum payments on the rest of the debts. After you eliminate the smallest debt, you take that money and begin applying it to the next smallest debt. And so on. Each time you finish a debt, you get a little more money to take aim at the next debt. Over the weeks and months, your “debt snowball” grows bigger and bigger until by the end, you are paying down thousands of dollars a month on one debt.

Baby Step Three: Build up your baby emergency fund (From Baby Step One) into a fully funded emergency fund of 3 to 6 months of expenses into savings.

Baby Step Four: Invest 15% of your gross income into retirement savings.

Baby Step Five: Save Money for kid’s college (if applicable)

Baby Step Six: Pay extra on your home mortgage.

Baby Step Seven: Invest and gain wealth. Then start giving it away.


Ramsey's plan is simple, but not easy. By simple, I mean he says nothing here that is too complex for non-business majors. In fact, the chief criticism of his plan that I’ve read is that it isn’t nuanced enough. But we have found it helpful to have things spelled out so clearly.

But it isn’t easy. It required us to change our outlook on money (or, more accurately, to develop an outlook on personal finance).

Next, tackling the snowball!

Up the Baby Steps (II)

(For Entry I, click here)

“I’ve been listening to this guy on the radio named Dave Ramsey and he has a really cool book out” was PT Girl’s response. “We’ve used his plan to pay off thousands of dollars in debt this year” she continued. “It’s called the Total Money Makeover”

It would be an understatement to say that I listened with a skeptical ear. Graduate school beat into me (or nurtured what was already there) more than my fair share of cynicism. I am awfully critical of someone if I detect even a whiff of promotion from their program or plan. And talk radio jocks are the worst. To top it all off, I couldn’t imagine a cheesier name for a book.

But I agreed to read the book and see what he had to say. I certainly didn’t have any answers. I then read the book over the course of two evenings. And in it Ramsey laid out a plan to gain control of your finances that struck me as doable.

Essentially, Ramsey argues the following:

**Debt robs you of your income, which is really your only wealth building power, so you should work to eliminate debt as fast as you can. Once you have no more debt you can invest in retirement and education for your kids.

Well, that kinda makes sense. We had hundreds of dollars a month going out to service our debt. I could see that we would have some money to invest if we eliminated those loans.

**Putting down a written budget is the key toward meeting your financial goals.

Kadie and I ran a budget the first year or so of our marriage. We were given one of Larry Burkett's books as a wedding gift. Neither of us can figure out why we stopped running one. Probably due to laziness.

Two things Ramsey said resonated with me:

1) Try the plan for two or three months. If you don’t like it, then you can go back into debt as quickly as you want.

2) Getting out of debt, sticking to a budget and investing for the future is hard. (I knew that!!). But then Ramsey pointed out that being broke is hard too. So if they are both hard, why not pick the hard that will provide more money for your family?

Kadie and I had no budget and were pretty much running our household finances with a wet finger in the air, never sure which way our money was blowing. This led to occasional bouts of frustration as we would get notification that a check had bounced or that we needed to get a short term loan to cover our yearly income tax. The worst feeling was checking our account online, just a few days after payday and wondering where all the money had gone.

So we figured that we would give Ramsey’s plan a shot, if only for a few months…

(Tomorrow: The plan…)

Part of the Emphemera Still Floating Around in my Brain.....

Thirty years later, I still cannot get these images out of my mind...







And the One that started them all: The Yip Yip Martians meet the Telephone...






The Sleestacks still frighten me. And I still, bitterly hold Sidd and Marty Krofft personally responsible for so much that went wrong in the 1970's....

Otters and Lions and Hair—Oh My

I am considering changing the name of my blog to something like: An Otter’s Tale.

Gary Smalley distinguishes four personality types along two axes: Lion (leaders)/Retrievers (followers) on one axis and Beaver (workers)/Otter (players) along the other. I’m a Lion/Otter. My administrative responsibilities have forced upon me more elements of Beaverness than I care for, but that is the reward for showing any Leonine potential at my current educational institution. And I am incredibly blessed by our departmental secretary—who is truly a gift from God (and I mean that in all sincerity and sans fromage). She is meticulous and enjoys scanning papers for details and number crunching (shiver).

But once in awhile, my otter nature makes my life more difficult than it could be. Take this morning for example. I get up early with the girls and Scooter scoots off to the bus around 7:00. As bleary-eyed Skeeter and I go through our morning routine (Kadie sleeps in, having worked the late shift last night), it dawns on me that I could walk her to school, take our two dogs and then complete a brief run before arriving at work around 9:30. (Several morning arrivals this week allowed me to come in a bit later today.)

So I walk her to school and then continue running/walking for another 45 minutes or so. I return to the house at 8:50. Squealer is now up, and so is Kadie. The phone rings and it is our departmental secretary. "Payroll has to be approved by 9:00" she says.

"Crud!" I mutter. (Crud is my personal Christian expletive of choice).

Payroll has to be approved for all faculty in our department and for all student workers every two weeks. I have observed repeatedly that people become quite irate when their paychecks are delayed. And of course I have to sign off on payroll by enttering a code into our computer system software. That I cannot access from off campus.

So I find a Baylor cap to cover my motley morning hair and catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I prepare to leave. I am in a gray T-shirt with gray gym shorts, unshaven, unbathed, and sweaty. I get in the car and race up to school. Fortunately I live very close. Unfortunately I remember that 9:00 for a MWF class is the busiest time of the academic week. There are several hundred students going into our building, as well as faculty who are late arriving to campus.

I pull into a parking space and a junior faculty member in our department pulls in right next to me.

Stupid timing.

We get out of our cars at the same time and he does a double take. "Are we allowed to wear that?" he asks questioningly. (A good response would’ve been a Tom Swiftie "I’ll break you in half if you ask me again!" Taran snapped.) Instead I mutter something about casual Fridays and pulled my cap down lower across my forehead and put my sunglasses in place.

I arrive at the door to our building and see one of our student workers standing there. He doesn’t catch my eye, so I realize that he hasn’t seen me. I get past him and start to open the building door. He says "Dr. Taran, I almost didn’t recognize you!"

Stupid almost.

I quickly make my way to our departmental offices. Our secretary sees me and is completely unsurprised at my outfit. I approve payroll on the computer and start to head back to the parking lot. "Nice hair" she yells over my shoulder. I ignore her.

Later that day, when I have safely returned to school in proper attire a student mentions "I heard about your new look Dr. Taran." And the last vestige of my pride seeps away.

Stupid Otter!

But I enjoyed the walk with Squealer and the run with the dogs.

Letting Go

One of the difficulties I have encountered in my short time (2 months) as the Intentional Interim (II) of Susan Song is the extent to which I should provide direction and make decisions. Due to my background as a former pastor, I tend to diagnose the problem and to make decisions pretty quickly. But my task as the II is to remind the church that they are a distinct community of faith that need not depend upon their pastor for their sole sense of identity and leadership. So I am encouraging them to move in a (productive) direction in which they feel led.

In churches that come from a pastor led model, there can be a hesitation for leadership. The pastor has made all of the decisions, so they naturally look to me to provide guidance. One early challenge has been to give them space and an opportunity to discuss options and possibilities.

I am convinced that God is working in this process. Just as important (if not moreso) they are convinced that God is working in their midst, obviously a tremendous source of comfort for any community of faith.

A Bleg

Please pray for my brother, Bartolo, who takes his doctoral exams at 9:00 am EST on Friday morning.

Thanks!

Up the Baby Steps (I)

Kadie and I are accomplishing some significant (for us) financial goals. I wanted to spend a few days blogging about them because they have impacted our lives so tremendously. Most of you who read this will slowly shake your heads and think “What poor, miserable financial slobs.” I have no doubt that most of you learned these lessons long ago.

But I blog our experiences for two reasons: to have a written record, and also to encourage others who may be in financial binds that they can get out of them.

Two years ago, in March of 2004, we received some devastating financial news. Our Ford Windstar’s engine had imploded and it would cost 3,500 to install a new engine. Given the important fact that we had nowhere near that much money in our bank account, we were stunned by how to respond. In particular, we were resigned to the fact that we were going to have to borrow the money to pay for the repairs.

The fact that we were in such a position infuriated me. At that time we had been married for a dozen years and had seen our income rise from living off the tips I could pry from unwilling customers to a good, fulltime job for me and part time nursing work for Kadie. In short, our income had never been higher...but we were not living within our means. We had purchased a home and and our expenses exceeded our income as much now as they ever had. In fact, we had really never had more in the bank than we did that fateful day in March when we got the news on the car.

While talking with PT Girl about the engine a few days later, she asked if she could offer me some financial advice. I recall my response was something along the lines of “Whatever we’ve been doing has not been working out for us at all. Tell me what you’ve got…”

Blessings in a Jar

I attended my first business meeting at Susan Song last Wednesday. It was conducted in the same, informal way that so many are in smaller churches across the convention. During the meeting, one member made a motion that “We use the blessings jar for the $300.00” and then she turned and grinned at me. I had no idea what she was talking about.

But apparently Susan Song has a glass vase that they keep on the Lord’s Supper Table (?!) in front of the pulpit. From week to week, as people feel led, they place money in the vase and it grows over time. What the church has voted to do is use the money to pay for the reflections time at the end of the interim. I thought that was a very appropriate solution that should resolve our pinch from a few weeks ago.

After they explained to me what it was I said “Hmmmm, that sounds a lot like a tip jar.” They were amused feigned amusement. Well, at least I have some experience earning tips!

The Case of the Pig Headed Snatch Grabber

At the risk of confirming my status in category one of Bowden's new Southern Baptist Blogger taxonomy:

We have a toy that we picked up at a carney some few years ago. It is a stick with a pig head on one end and a trigger at the other end. When you squeeze the trigger, the mouth moves and the pig “bites” with its mouth and opposable jaw. You can use it to snatch, or grab, small objects. Several years ago we began referring to it as a “Pig Headed Snatch Grabber” (wait, Googling...yep, we’ve coined a new term). Normally, it is a simple toy that each of the kids enjoy. But in Squealer's hands, it has become an instrument of torture.

In the Vue, all three of the kids are crammed in the back seat with Skeeter in his car seat between his big sisters. Oftentimes, while we are driving around, Squealer will take the Pig Headed Snatch Grabber and “bite” his sisters with it as they sit in the car. It doesn’t hurt them, but really bugs them a lot. It drives them crazy because they are held in place by their seatbelts and cannot escape. It always ends with one of the three weeping, but before it gets to that point it is actually quite amusing to watch. (Sometimes it ends when one of the girls successfully disarms (dispigs?) him and tosses the Pig Headed Snatch Grabber into the very back of the car). We usually stop them before they toss him into the back of the car.

Yesterday, Kadie took Skeeter to the orthodontist to get her braces checked. Skeeter has a fairly substantial crossbite and so has been burdened with braces at the tender age of eight. Kadie dropped her off at the door and went to park the car. Skeeter had gone inside, and they had escorted her on into the orthodontist's office. By the time Kadie arrived, Skeeter was concentrating on an explanation while the dental assistant was sitting there patiently listening:

Skeeter: “...and then, he’ll take the Pig Headed Snatch Grabber and use it to bite my arms and I try to get away, but he bites my leg. So I lean away from him as far as I can, but I can’t get away and he keeps doing it, and doing it, and doing it, and that really bothers me!!”

By this time, Kadie has no idea why Skeeter is telling this to the dental assistant who continues to listen patiently. As soon as Skeeter finishes her impassioned tale of woe there is silence for a few seconds. Then the dental assistant quietly says with a smile on her face:

“I’m sorry sweetheart, I should’ve been more specific. I mean is there any thing bothering you about the braces.”

Posted Without Comment

Spheres at Susan Song

We continue our look at history at Susan Song. The last few Wednesday evenings we have discussed the past and how it has affected (and still affects) the church. I have initiated the discussion by asking questions like:


What is your favorite time of year here at Susan Song?

What traditions are passed on in your family? What traditions are an important part of the church life?

What was the most exciting thing to happen during your time at Susan Song?

What was the most tragic thing to occur at Susan Song?

It was when I asked this final question that I received the most surprising responses. While most in the group associated the “most exciting thing” with some corporate achievement of the church, most associated the “most tragic thing” personally. People told me about the deaths of their spouses, children, and other key members of the church.

I think what surprised me was the simple reminder that people in our churches don’t always have strife and difficulties because of events at church. They are often directed and motivated by events that are beyond our control. I wonder how many church conflicts have their roots in the personal rather than the corporate spheres?

The Tragedy of Sin

Two couples in a church.

An alleged indiscretion.

Each maintains their innocence, but only one can be telling the truth. Kadie is torn as those involved are our friends. My cynical nature shields me somewhat from the pain. But the situation is another reminder (as if we needed it!) of the powerful sin nature that grips us all. Although I will readily admit the theological difficulties of a sinful nature, I have long been convinced of its truth. Sin infects each of us and we see its terrible effects every day.

But its tough when you see fellow church members engage in it and it destroys their relationships. Ultimately, that is what sin does. It separates us, not only from God, but from each other.

The Semester Has Started Again...

Can you tell? I will be back to semi-regular posting soon.

The Kiss

Conversation between Taran and Kadie after Scooter got back from Pre-Teen camp in the Summer of 2005:

T: “You know Kadie, Scooter just got back from camp and she went with that boy she’s been spending a lot of time with at church.”

K: “Yes. His name is Jacob”

T: “Right...Jacob. Umm well, I was wondering if they, you know, kissed while at camp?”

K: “What are you talking about? Why do you think that she kissed someone? Did you kiss someone when you were in youth camp?”

T: “Well, that’s really not the point. My question is ‘Do you think that Scooter kissed Jacob at camp? I mean, she’s only ten.”

K: “I don’t know, but why are you asking me? I wasn’t at camp. You should be asking Scooter.”

Silence….processing……processing…..processing

T: “Well maybe I will.”

Several hours later, Scooter and I are sitting on the floor of the living room, having wrapped up some cleaning. I seize the moment.

T: “Ummm…look, Scooter, I wanted to….”

S: “What’s the matter, Daddy? Is everything alright?”

T: “Oh nothing, nothing, I mean yes, everything’s fine. It’s just…” I stammer.

S: “Dad, Did I do something wrong? You look serious.”

T: Oh no, nothing wrong, or…well….you went to camp with your – uhhhh with Jacob and I was wondering…”

S: “What Daddy?”

T: “Well, I was wondering….Scooter, I was wondering if… if…you’ve ever kissed a boy?”

Silence….my heart pounds…..I am waiting for the dreaded answer.

As I finish my question, for just a second she looks confused. Then she giggles as she leans forward. And as she leans forward she kisses my nose and says “Only YOU Daddy!” and she stands up, laughs, and skips away.

Taking my heart with her.




I was too chicken to ask her again after this year’s camp.

A Pinch (3)

As I’ve mentioned the last few days, pinches are inevitable in families and in churches. I then described how I expereinced (and participated in) a pinch at Susan Song Baptist.

After my meeting with the two church leaders, I decided to share the covenant with the church as I had written it. When we got to the portion on the $300.00 for the Reflections meeting, I mentioned that these two men had pulled me aside and expressed concern over that point. I thanked them for expressing their concern and I wanted the church to know that these issues will be dealt with openly and not privately.

I then offered to pay the $300.00 myself if the church deems it appropriate at the end of the interim. I was motivated by the following thoughts:

1) Kicking the can down the road a bit will give the church and I time to develop a stronger sense of trust before we tackle this issue again. They have let a complete stranger into their lives and into their pulpit over the last few weeks. And a city boy at that!

2) There are some underlying concerns about money in the church. Apparently the pastors’ family and extended family (his sons, daughters-in-law and grandkids) attended the church with him. One member has shared with me that one Sunday they had thirty-five people present at church and seventeen were family of the pastor. So with all of these tithers now gone, there is some concern about the financial state of the church. I do think that in a couple of months I will have a better idea of how realistic these financial concerns are.

(I should note parenthetically that when I mentioned the possibility of paying for the Reflections myself, several church members shook their heads, as if to say that they would not allow me to do so.)

So on Wednesday night during our Transition Team meeting, we spent much of the hour discussing the Reflections portion of the Intentional Interim Ministry. One asked why they were responsible for paying for the Center for Congregational Health’s “quality control.” I didn’t point out that a business ALWAYS passes on quality control costs because I’m not completely comfortable with the business model they implicitly assumed or by Bartolo’s comparison of an IIM to a business consultant (I’m not saying that there are no similarities, but I want to keep a distinction between business and ministry, profit and prophet).

Others on the Transition Team felt that someone from outside couldn’t accurately evaluate their church, especially one who drove in from another state to meet with them.

So they accepted my compromise and I changed the wording of the covenant to:

The Church will commit to a time of Reflections at the end of the Intentional Interim Ministry that will cost $300.00. Susan Song Baptist Church will determine at the appropriate time whether the cost of this Reflections time will be paid by the church or by Taran.


Two areas of concern:

First, I can live without the $300.00. In fact, I am sure that any IIM at this church (due to their attendance and remoteness) will not make money. So my main concern is not money, but rather that I do not want the church to establish a pattern of paying ministers on the cheap. I am aware that the church will gauge expectations of its next pastor (for good or for ill) by their experience with me.

Second, I was concerned about the secretive way that two leaders took me aside and spoke on behalf of the church. That may be a sign that the church has dealt with conflict "behind closed doors" in the past. I made a point to mention my conversation with them publicly to make sure that the church deals with “pinches” in an open way.

This last Sunday I presented the revised covenant and we signed it as a group at the end of the worship service. It was a meaningful time as every member of the church, from 7 year olds to 77 year olds came up to the front and signed the agreement. One of the two men who took me aside the previous Sunday, presented me with a beautiful pen and pencil set that he had carved out of cherry wood. (Who knew you could carve a pen?!)

Any thoughts? I'd appreciate any suggestions or rebukes. As I've told you before, this is my first Intentional Interim, I anticipated that there would be some "pinches" along the way.

A Pinch (2)

I mentioned a few days ago about Dennis Burton and Wayne Oakes’s theory of “pinching”. Quite simply, a pinch is when expectations between a church and a pastor are not met. Two Sundays ago I presented the covenant agreement to Susan Song Baptist, with one significant difference. In the initial draft, Susan Song Baptist was going to pay the $300.00 for the Reflections meeting. (Essentially, the Reflections time is when a consultant comes from outside the church and evaluates their impressions of the Intentional Interim Ministry. It is a form of quality control that allows the Center for Congregational Health to tweak the ministry and/or the Intentional Interim pastor.) The $300.00 covers transportation and time for the consultant. But I made two mistakes in presenting it:

1) A key church leader was on vacation that Wednesday night I presented the covenant to the Transition Team. I had not yet identified him as a key leader and didn’t realize that his buy-in was necessary to getting the covenant approved.

2) I underestimated the congregation’s concern with money. As I have since learned, the previous pastor brought his extended family with him to church. And most of them tithed. So in addition to losing the pastor, there is a high level of anxiety in the church about finances. So $300.00 was looking like a huge sum to them. (Their average Sunday giving is right about $300.00).

3) I should've given more time for the church to process the document. Although we had discussed it, they had the covenant in writing for only one week before they were set to vote on it.

So last Sunday, right before the service was set to begin, I heard those fateful words that strike frustration into the heart of every pastor, interim or not, “Brother Taran, may we have a word with you?” The leader who was absent, as well as one who was present at the meeting, took me aside and they expressed their concerns. They thought that $300.00 was a lot of money and didn’t fully understand the role of the Reflections consultant. They told me that they would not sign the covenant as it now read.

Ouch.

Getting pinched is uncomfortable, especially right before the service!

A Tragedy

As Kevin has already noted, the beautiful Trinity Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia sustained substantial fire damage today.

I had the privilege of traveling to Russia two times many, many years ago. The first time was in 1991 and the city's name was Leningrad. I traveled with a group of BSU students (known today as BCM) to do cosntruction work in local churches. Although we did not work in the Trinity Cathedral, we passed it every day and enjoyed an incredible tour of its beautiful domes.

The second time I went was in 1994 when Southwestern Seminary took a group of students there to lead worship services and conduct revivals around the city. Trinity Cathedral was still a gorgeous part of the city.

No more (although they do plan to rebuild).

A Pinch

Dennis Burton and Wayne Oakes helpfully describe what happens in a church where expectations are not met. According to their thesis, church families--indeed, ALL families--have certain expectations. Hopefully, these expectations are stated but more often than not, these expectations are not ever expressed. So we each carry around these expectations that the other people in our families (or our churches) must meet.

But we never tell them what they are.

Many of us are familiar with this idea from marriage. An example: An early conflict in my marriage with Kadie revolved around how we would conduct our early morning routine. I had grown accustomed to reading the paper every morning while I was in college. I enjoyed waking up early, eating cereal and sitting on the kitchen floor with the paper spread out before me. I would slowly and methodically read it all from A1 to F18 and enjoy every moment of it.

Kadie had grown up spending quality time together with her family every morning. She often looked forward to eating breakfast together as a family. So her (unstated) expectation was that we would eat our breakfast, gaze into one another’s eyes and talk (I guess that’s what she thought) throughout the breakfast hour. My expectation was that I would find a spot on the floor, spread the paper out and eat breakfast while tuning the rest of the world out for an hour or so.

Our expectations were certain not to be met.

Burton and Oakes call a broken expectation a “pinch”. Pinches aren’t fatal, but they are inevitable. Unfortunately they are often one sided. By that I mean that it is possible for only one person to feel pinched in a situation. In fact, that’s exactly what happened early in our marriage.

The first few days of our post-honeymoon time together, I got up as usual and read the paper while Kadie fixed a nice breakfast. I then ate the breakfast while I read the paper (yes, I’m an idiot, I know). Her feelings were hurt (pinched) and I had no idea that there was even a problem until later. She was pinched while I was oblivious.

It was only after we clearly expressed our expectations to one another that we could reach a mutual accommodation.

The irony is, fifteen years later, our mornings are so helter-skelter that we never take time to eat breakfast together.

And we haven’t had a newspaper subscription in years ;)

Tomorrow: My first pinch at Susan Song.

Intentional Interim Covenant

One unique element of the Intentional Interim Ministry is the requirement of a covenant between the Intentional Interim Minister and the church. This covenant articulates the expectations of both pastor and church. I think that it is important to clearly express exactly what the expectations are for both the Intentional Interim Minister and the congregation. When expectations are clearly delineated, it prevents a multitude of problems later.

The congregation of Susan Song Baptist and I recently worked through the following covenant. We will devote a portion of this week's Sunday morning service to signing this document.

INTENTIONAL INTERIM MINISTRY COVENANT
Between Susan Song Baptist Church and Taran
August 27, 2006

Part I:This covenant commits Taran and Susan Song Baptist Church as partners together for the Intentional Interim Ministry for a period of six months.

Part II: Taran’s responsibilities:

*Taran will be responsible for leading the ongoing ministry of Susan Song Baptist Church. Duties are to include:

*The Sunday morning preaching and worship leadership
*Wednesday Evening Bible study
*Preparation time for Sunday morning and Wednesday Evening
*Weekly Transition Team meeting and preparation
*Other--pastoral care, counseling, weddings, funerals, as Taran’s schedule allows.

Goals of Interim Pastor:
*Taran will consult with the Transition Team to lead the church through the Five Developmental Tasks of the Intentional Interim Ministry. These tasks are:
History, Identity, Leadership and Decision Making, Denominational Connection, and Preparation for New Leadership

*Taran will work to maintain the momentum and ministries of the church
*Taran will lead in the spiritual direction of the church


Part III:Details of the Susan Song Baptist Church’s responsibilities:
*The Congregation of Susan Song Baptist Church commits to provide $XX.XX salary per week for the Sunday morning and Wednesday evening services.

*In addition, other travel associated with normal pastoral responsibilities will be reimbursed at the current government mileage rate.

*The Church will commit to a time of Reflections at the end of the Intentional Interim Ministry that will cost $300.00. Susan Song Baptist Church will determine at the appropriate time whether the cost of this Reflections time will be paid by the church or by Taran.

*The congregation will participate in the Intentional Interim Ministry though prayer, attendance, financial support, and cooperation.

Part IV:Additional information:
*Taran is not a candidate for the role of permanent pastor
*This covenant may be extended by mutual agreement between Susan Song Baptist Church and Taran.
*This covenant may be cancelled by either party with two week’s notice.
*The Intentional Interim Minister will report directly to the Transition Team which will make all recommendations concerning his employment.


Please note any questions or suggestions that you may have. This is my first covenant to draw up and would surely benefit from additional counsel.

Thanks in advance!

Cruising with God

Ed. Note: Let me say from the beginning that Henry Blackaby has done more for the kingdom of God than I have done, or likely ever will do. He has excelled at his work and has built a tremendous ministry that contributes daily to the lives of thousands. I have not. Not to put too fine a point on it, he wrote Experiencing God while I write about dead tadpoles.


Since Henry Blackaby was recently mentioned on both Dave and Kevin’s sites, I was reminded of a brief seminary story that was probably my biggest gaffe while there. In addition to another job I had in seminary, I also worked in Robert’s library at SWBTS. Working in a library is great for bibliophiles and libraries are pretty low stress environments.

Usually.

Early on in my time in the library, I came across an advertisement in the Baptist Standard for an Experiencing God cruise. People paid a lot of money to go on a cruise and study through Experiencing God. The big draw on this particular cruise, as I recall, was that Henry Blackaby would be directing this group on the cruise. So the big selling point was that you could go on the cruise and learn about experiencing God straight from the horse’s mouth.

But studying Expereincing God on a cruise struck me (at the age of 23) as particularly heinous. The idea of engaging on a spiritual retreat while cruising through the Alaskan Sound gazing upon glaciers sounded more like mammon than godliness. My aggravation over this began to simmer and I started grousing about it to my cowowrkers. I then began to talk to my coworkers about the hypocrisy of turning everything over to God and “Finding where God was at work and then joining him there…on an Alaskan cruise.”

I then unleashed a terrific jeremiad that included not only Blackaby, but the entire Baptist Bookstore Lifeway chain about how they had marketed the Gospel and concluded with a thunderous statement along the lines of “If Jesus came back today and went into your average Lifeway store I bet he would start overturning tables!” And I cited all of the attendent Experiencing God merchandise as an example.

Now I’m not one usually given to much passion and perhaps I had too much Tabasco sauce that day at lunch, but it was essentially a hot headed rant. After I finished, I noticed that all my fellow librarians were watching me in an awkward combination of amusement and shock. Jim, Amy, Brian and Kerry were standing there in stunned silence.

My supervisor, a gentle soul, was the first to speak “Taran, have you met all of your coworkers?” I found that an odd question since I had been there a few weeks at that time, but I nodded.

“Are you sure you’ve met them all? Have you met…” and then she dropped the hammer

“Kerry Blackaby?”

Oh. No.


Apparently Henry B has several kids who went through Southwestern and one of them was my coworker. Kerry, for her part, grinned and didn’t say a word.

We worked together for another year and she was always too gracious to mention the incident. She was a wonderful coworker and an even better person. Five years later, when I was pastoring at Lone Oak, our Association had Henry Blackaby and his wife down for some leadership training and I met them and mentioned my connection with Kerry. At that time she was doing well and her parents were two very nice, humble people.

I suppose the post-script to this story is that next week I am facilitating Experiencing God at our church….


But not on a cruise.

***Cheesy Non-Substantive Family Post Alert***

We spent Friday at Six Flags Over Texas, making a one day run that would’ve made Smokey and the Bandit jealous. (Good grief, an opening reference to a movie that came out in 1977). Kadie took our oldest two while each of Kadie’s sisters came along, PT Girl and Nellie. Nellie and her husband are missionaries to a Middle Eastern Country (her husband is an Arab) and they have two teenage daughters. They don’t get to return to the States that often (the daughters haven’t been here in five years) and we wanted to take them to an all American place of fun.

The high was 102, but we kept well hydrated and I’m sure that the heat kept some people away. In addition, school had started and few parents were apparently as hooky permissive as were we. I was concerned about the few operating hours (they were open from 11 to 6 instead of their normal 10 to 9) but we rode far more rides than normal due to the paucity of people. (I rode the Texas Giant three times straight at one point because no one else wanted to get on!).

Some thoughts:

I am always amazed at how vibrating kids, quivering with excitement and fueled the sugar rush from junk food coursing through their veins can be reduced to an almost unconscious state by a day out in the heat and constant walking over the course of seven short hours. The kids were WIPED OUT.

The food prices at Six Flags are obscene. They make airline terminal restaurants seem reasonable. $9.00 for a hamburger combo meal?! I’ll pass.

The older I get, the less scary roller coasters become.

Apparently many people think that it is entirely appropriate to wear a bikini to an amusement park.

You know you are getting old when you think "These shows look more interesting than the rides."


Skeeter continued her tradition of consistently getting lost in family outings. She has been lost in the Denver zoo and in several malls along the I-20 and I-35 Texas corridor. She oftentimes walks along, thinking her own thoughts, oblivious to the world around her.

Right after we arrived at Six Flags, I showed her several workers with their distinctive red shirts. I said “Now, if you get lost, just go up to one of them and tell them that you are lost.”

Seven hours later, at closing time, Karen, Nellie and three of the girls went into a restroom. Skeeter kept walking along. (PT Girl and I were in another part of the park, catching one more ride on the Titan.) Skeeter immediately found a worker, walked up and said “I am lost.” She told me later “I almost cried, but I didn’t.”

The only other loss was my brand new BU hat, which Kadie was wearing on the La Vibora ride. The bill caugfht a wind draft and shot off her head like a green and gold rocket. We reported it missing and they said that they would mail it to us in the next few days.

A wonderful day of fun had by all!!!!!

Transition Team Meeting

I have been remiss in not pointing out one of the most important elements of the Intentional Interim process: the Transition Team. The Team is self-selected from the congregation and must provide a cross section of the congregation that reflects the various ethnic, gender, and age differences within the church. Basically, you want every group (or clique!) within the congregation to have representation on the Transition Team.

Essentially, the Intentional Interim Minister (IIM) directs the Transition Team through the five developmental tasks and then they assist in working with the rest of the church through each task. The IIM also works to build things like community and conflict resolution techniques into the Transition Team so that it models these characteristics to the rest of the congregation.

Galatians 5:9 “A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough” is the verse that reminds me of the work of the Transition Team. Just as gossip and anger can spread until they infest the entire congregational body, so can love and community. By transforming a small group, the church can begin to change.

Last night at Susan Song Baptist we had our first Transition Team meeting. Unlike the typical church that goes through the II process, Susan Song is so small that the Transition Team consists of anyone who comes to church on Wednesday night (about 50% of the church membership!). In order to get to know one another we started off with the Quaker Questions. These elicited some interesting responses. There were two people who grew up with 9 or more siblings and three of the nine grew up in share-cropping families.

One interesting note is that one of the key members of the congregation (he’s in his mid sixties) is illiterate. I was tipped off to that fact shortly before I started calling on people to read the devotional text!

We worked on our decision making processes and reviewed the five developmental tasks. Then we ended with prayer requests and prayer. Overall they were pleased with meeting.

On the way out to our cars, I overheard one lady say to another "Judy, I found out something about you that I didn't know before!" Judy replied "I bet that we find out even more about each other before this process is over!"

It was music to my ears.

A Theological Question

So if it's not actually out yet...

and therefore no one owns one...

is it a sin to covet this?

The Ride Home from School (or My Tax Dollars at Work)

Since Scooter now rides the bus home from school, I get to pick up Skeeter from her school and we get to drive back to the house together. I am discovering how much of the conversation over the last few eyars was dominated by her older sibling. I have enjoyed the last few days of school and we have had some very nice conversations.


Today, however, was not one of them:

Me: "So, Skeeter, what did you learn at school today?"

Skeeter: "Well Daddy, it was so neat! In science today, our teacher got a pickle and put plugs and wires into it and then turned it on!" (I assume she was talking about something like this)

Me: "Wow! That is neat. What did you learn from that?"

Skeeter: (silence)

Me: "What did your teacher tell you about the experiment?"

Skeeter: (more silence)

Me: (Gently prompting) "Did you learn anything about salty pickles and electricity?"

Skeeter: (slowly) "Well, I learned that it looks really cool when pickles light up."

Life Without A Pastor

We had a wonderful day at church on Sunday. Susan Song Baptist foolishly voted to call me as their intentional interim pastor and I have accepted that call. I am excited about the possibilities of working with them through this process. I am humbled as well as exceedingly grateful at the opportunity that I have been provided.

There is a lot of excellent discussion on the interim time going on in the Baptist Blogosphere right now. Marty Duren has a couple of posts (one is linked below) dealing with accurately evaluating a church that is preparing to call a pastor. Bowden has also offered some critical advice for the church in evaluating prospective pastoral candidates. I would offer my two cents here.

As strange as it may sound, I think that there is an incredible opportunity for positive change in a church without a pastor. And I say that as a former pastor. Here are three initial reasons:

First, there is no pastoral ego or pride to complicate the evaluation of the church. One struggle that I often had as a pastor was that I identified my own personal success or failure very closely with the “success” or “failure” of a church. Though on an intellectual level I realized the foolishness of doing so, my self esteem as a pastor depended on the number of people we had in a service, or on the success of our most recent ministry endeavor.

This would sometimes make it difficult for me to objectively evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the church. I also know from several of my friends in the ministry that this is an issue that they struggle with as well.

Second, during the interim time, the church might have enough impetus for a change. Dr. Iorg of Golden Gate Seminary noted on Marty Duren’s blog, that there must be a critical mass of events (my words) for change to take place.

He writes that “The candidate should also look carefully at the track record of the church. Past behavior is a very good indicator of future practice - especially for mature organizations. A church will usually only change when a significant circumstantial change occurs. The candidate should look carefully to see if circumstances mandate or suggest change is possible - not just that some say it is.”

Often, the flux of the interim time can provide that opportunity for change. I would add that this is largely consistent with most instances of substantial organizational change. I have seen in my own workplace that people without any external force being applied (like a change in leadership, a crisis affecting the organization, etc.) can become largely inured to change.

Lastly, the church can do good work in the area of preparing for the arrival of the next pastor (the fifth developmental task). It is obviously difficult to do so when a current pastor is already on the field. Few pastors will invite an outsider to come in and talk about pastoral/congregational relations unless there is already a problem. The intentional interim process can provide an opportunity to deal proactively with some of these issues before they rise to the level of problems within the congregation.

A few months ago I shared with our Sunday School class an outline of the Intentional Interim ministry. At the end of the class, one member said “I think this would be a good thing for all churches to know, not just those without a pastor.” Although I think that elements of these developmental tasks can be completed in a church with a pastor, I think that these three reasons demonstrate how the interim period can be a productive one due to the (temporary) absence of a pastor.

Developmental Task #5

The final developmental task is aimed at preparing the church for new pastoral leadership. Here the Intentional Interim (II) helps the church to answer one essential question: How can we effectively minister to our pastor?

Many in congregations today are ignorant of what it means to pastor a church. The unique elements of a pastor's life like the bizarre tax codes, the importance of continuing education, and the stress of the pastor's family living a life in the fishbowl of congregational eyes fly under the radar of all but the most sensitive church memebers.

Pastors learn to smile at the "joke" they've heard for years: "So, preacher, what exactly do you do the rest of the week?"

Ideally, the II could lead the church to transform the Pastor Search Committee into a Pastor Support Committee that devises ways to encourage the pastor in the ministry to which God has called him.

I have already written about the difficulties of life for the pastor's wife. This final stage of the II ministry could effectively help the church not to consider the pastor's wife as a bonus "two-for-one" deal that comes with the pastor. Any contribution the pastor's wife makes to the life and fellowship of the church should be appreciated, but not expected.

In addition, here are some things that I would like congregations to consider:

1. Providing sabbaticals for the pastor.

2. A yearly evaluation as a way of providing feedback to the pastor.

3. A support group that would encourage the pastor and provide counsel in certain situations.

4. Making sure that the pastor has adequate time for vacation around important days (his anniversary, his wife’s birthday, kid’s graduations etc.). Related to this is an effort on the part of the church to make sure that the pastor has time off during the week to be with his family.

5. Provide the means for the pastor to attend conferences and conventions that allow him to learn and to fellowship with other ministers.

6. Annually evaluating the pastor’s compensation package and making sure that it reflects a fair wage for the pastor.

I have seen a few examples of a genuine love affair between a pastor and church. It is an amazing thing to observe a relationship where this affection allows incredible things to be accomplished for God's glory.

Please feel free to add to the list, or email me and I will post additional suggestions. I know that two churches at least have linked to Coffeespoons, and I would love to hear from some church members on this topic.

(And neither pastor knew that I’d be posting this!!!!)

The First Day...

I hear the hungry beast before I see it. I always do.

Scotter and I are outside on the intersection in front of our home, waiting for the slow moving behemoth that will soon consume her and take her away. She is less nervous than I am. Today is the first day that she will meet the beast, but it is harder on me than on her. While she waits patiently, I stand there awkwardly, the geeky parent fidgeting more than his daughter.

And then I hear its roar as it slowly changes gears just out of sight.

Our street curves out of sight about thirty yards from our house. The trees and homes of our street form a tunnel that amplifies the sound of the beast as it changes gears. This low pitched roar is a familiar sound, one I hear all the time during the school year. But before this day, it had always come of the children of others, never for mine.

It lumbers into view, its dull, metallic hide glows ominously in the dusky 7:00 am light. It slows down and suddenly its yellow and red eyes begin to flash and blaze a hungry warning. The grill of the monster grins wickedly at me. (Wasn’t it Calvin Miller who once wrote “Love smiles. Evil grins”?) As it rumbles to a stop, its stubby red signs awkwardly extend out like vestigial wings, no longer capable of supporting flight. They too flash a red warning.

As it stops in front of us, its hungry maw folds open and a complete stranger beckons her in. She kisses me, turns and bravely heads for the mouth of the beast. Right before she enters, Scooter turns one last time for a quick wave. Then she vanishes into its belly. It hisses at me, and slowly rolls away with her inside.

And my prayers go with her.

Developmental Task #4

The fourth developmental task that the church engages during the Intentional Interim time is its Identity. Identity is a general term that includes the church’s size, ethnic makeup, location, financial resources, etc. Most times when church members are asked to describe their church they will say something like “We are a friendly church.” But church members can mean by that that they are only friendly to one another! So this task of identity can be important. It involves discussing with the community how they view the church, looking at demographic information about the church, and looking at historical trends in attendance and ministries.

Last night, as I described this stage to the congregation, I told them it was like looking in a mirror. When we look in the mirror, we see things about ourselves that we both like and dislike. This fourth stage holds a mirror up to the church so that they can see themselves as they truly are.

One woman said “Well, I like the sound of this stage, it never hurts to hear the truth!” I disagreed with her and explained that at times the truth can be painful.

I then shared that Kadie and I recently attended a marriage retreat run by a marriage and family counselor and his wife. During the retreat, I came to the realization that even though Kadie and I have been married for fifteen years (and dated for four before that) there are still some significant areas of our relationship in which I am not communicating well.

Understanding that after almost 20 YEARS of a relationship, I still had work to do was a painful realization. (At that point in the meeting, one wife slapped her husband’s shoulder and said “You need to go to one of those retreats!”)

The truth about our identity (whether a church or an individual) can be painful, but it is also necessary.

Susan Song Update and a Note From Bobby

Last night I presented the Intentional Interim Ministry to Susan Song Baptist. They were very intrigued and we discussed it for over an hour. They wanted to vote on it last night (no one expressed any opposition to it) but I encouraged them to pray about it and wait until Sunday. All in all it was an encouraging evening.

I received the following email from Bobby which I reprint in its entirety and without his permission.

I want you to know I read all of your Coffeespoons
posts, even when they start out as full of *promise*
for application to my daily life as: "I should note
that these five developmental tasks are separated only
as a heuristic device." I try not to fear what I do
not understand.

Bobby was making reference to this post. Ok, I'm sorry for the excessive verbiage. I'll write more clearly in the future. Just more evidence of exactly why it was difficult for me to get dates in college.

Developmental Task #3

The third task of the Intentional Interim (II) ministry is the exploration of denominational relationships to the congregation. In my case, I will be working almost exclusively with Baptist churches. This stage will be an opportunity to guide the church through what it means to be Baptist and will explain the fact that we as Baptists come from a theologically rich tradition of the Reformation.

As Baptists, we have done a poor job explaining the traditions and doctrines that form our distinctives. I taught a Reformation course a few years ago and covered the Radical Reformers (who gave birth to the Anabaptist tradition). After class one day, I spoke to a student who had been raised Baptist but converted to Catholicism when she married. She explained to me that she learned far more about what Baptists believed in the several months of her confirmation classes than she did in several years of growing up in a Baptist church.

Southern Baptists do a reasonable job teaching the Bible. We do a horrible job teaching what it means to be Baptist. We tend to define Baptists in our churches in terms of what we do not believe (i.e. witness the current debate among Baptist Bloggers over alcohol) rather than defining ourselves by what we embrace. Many good men and women have died for Baptist beliefs; I want to help churches to understand why they did. I think that the interim time is a natural time when many pastorless churches turn to their denominational resources for help. The interim period is an opportunistic time to explore the beliefs of us Christians who also happen to call ourselves Baptist.

Developmental Task #2

I should note that these five developmental tasks are separated only as a heuristic device. They each overlap and a church would not necessarily work through them in any particular sequence.

The second task in the Intentional Interim (II) program process is examining church leadership and decision making. These are two areas that are often obscured in SBC churches. Since there is not any set polity governing all Baptist Churches, it can oftentimes be unclear how decisions are reached. In some instances, the pastor is king and makes all of the decisions. In others, the deacons lead the church while a council of elders that govern things in other circumstances. Other churches operate by committees. And then there are aberrant situations. I knew of one church where the music minister had been there for decades and effectively controlled all of the new young pastors who cycled through the church over the years.

This second task explicitly brings to the surface and sets down on paper the way that decisions are reached in the church. Covenants and policies are updated and committee structures are created if necessary. A goal of this step is to make sure that there is an explicit, organized, consistent structure to how the church operates. This can allow for fully disclosed expectations when the new pastor arrives.

Kid Verse

Last night at dinner, Skeeter sneaked up behind me and poured half a cup of (very cold) water over my head. I spluttered in shock as she and the rest of the family laughed. I then noticed that she still had half a cup of the iced liquid remaining and I grabbed it and slung the remnants back into her face.

The family continued to laugh and this time she was the one gasping for air. When she could get her breath again she yelled out "Daddy! Don't repay evil for evil!!!!"

It is slightly annoying when your children quote scripture to change your behavior.

Developmental Task #1

This Wednesday night I am presenting the Intentional Interim program to the leadership at Susan Song Baptist Church. I will present the five stages of the intentional interim ministry and I thought that it might be helpful to outline them over the next few days. The role of the Intentional Interim (II) is to take the church through five developmental tasks.

The first task is History. This task explores the history of the church and looks at important junctures in the life of the church. Churches, like individuals, are susceptible to repeating past mistakes. By making the church aware of these past mistakes, and the factors that went into them, the II can guide the church to prevent the natural pattern that it can easily fall into.

We see a biblical example of this in the book of Judges. Judges follows a repetitive cycle:

The people rebel against God through idolatry
God raises up a foreign people group to punish the Hebrews
The people chaff under God’s punishment and cry out to Him
God raises up a savior (Judge) who then achieves a military victory and sets the Hebrews free
After a period of time, the people rebel against God through idolatry (return to step one)

But the purpose is not to dwell only on the negative history. It is also a time to celebrate the tremendous accomplishments of God in the past. God established a couple of traditions that were crucial to how the community of faith saw itself. The Passover and the Lord’s Supper were purposefully designed to remind Israel and the church of the powerful things that God has done in the past.

A final key element to the History of the church is to make sure that the secrets of the church are disclosed. A lot of events in the church are often “papered”over and ignored. A clear look at the history of the church can help to confront and overcome that history.

Fifteen Years and Susan Song

This has been an eventful week. Kadie and I celebrated our 15th Anniversary by driving a ways to Dallas where we stayed an inexpensive, luxurious hotel (thanks, Priceline) and gorged ourselves at the (cheesily named) Texas de Brazil. It is a wonderful churrascaria, which is roughly a Brazilian all-you-can-eat meal where they bring the meat to you. We consumed prime rib, sirloin steak, lamb, ribeye, etc. It was a wonderful meal (and expensive…sheesh, I think we might be able to afford it again when we celebrate our 30th!).

While there we caught two movies, Woody Allen’s new comedy Scoop and M. Night Shyamalan’s Lady in the Water. We enjoyed them both and I think I discerned an idea in Shamylan’s work that might make a nice paper presentation.

After we returned, Susan Song called me and asked me to serve as their interim pastor. I deferred their request and instead planned a meeting with the search committee. We will sit down this Wednesday where I will present them with the intentional interim process and request that they go through with it.

I also informed them that they would have to wait until we complete the intentional interim process before they could begin to search for a new pastor. Their chairwoman said that they have seven resumes but they had already decided to wait before calling another pastor. So I think that the search committee will vote to proceed with the intentional interim and I will present it to the entire church on Sunday. Please keep this process in your prayers.

There were more musical mishaps this morning, but I’ll save that for tomorrow ;)

On Punches and Pedagogy

The following is an article I wrote on the connection between teaching and life-long learning. Although it was written specifically for teaching in an academic setting, I think that it applies to anyone teaching at any level or in any context (pastors included). This article was rejected by some of the finest journals in the teaching field. That's why you are reading it here ;)


How did I get myself into this situation again? It has been almost four years since I passed my doctoral exams and successfully defended my dissertation. At that time I vowed that I would never again put myself into this situation. Several things came to mind in the few moments after I was informed that I had passed my oral defense. Mostly I remember the overwhelming sense of relief that culminated my twelve years of graduate studies. But I also remember one thought in particular. As I drove home that day I vowed: “That was the last exam I will ever take.”

Yet here I am, sweating out another exam. I mean literally sweating. The perspiration pours down my face. I feel so much tension, in fact, that I want to scream. So I do scream. As I finish the exam I yell “Ki- ya” and punch my fist in the air.

I am testing for my yellow belt in Tae-Kwon-Do. Over the last month, I have been taking classes two nights a week and now I am in the middle of a gymnasium with around one hundred other people. They are watching me perform a series of exercises designed to demonstrate a mastery of very basic martial arts skills.

My reason for pursuing this new course of study is a bit more difficult to explain. I am in my sixth year in a tenure track position in philosophy and religious studies. My days are filled with course preparations, writing articles and an ongoing deluge of committee meetings. Three nights a week whiplash occurs as I transition from the mental to the physical arena.

The physical and psychical benefits of martial arts are well documented. They require strenuous effort. When I first signed up for these classes my main goal was to retrain my doughy body which has been finely sculpted by the hours spent standing and lecturing and carried the soft pale hue that only comes from fluorescent lighting found in aging libraries. A second reason that I undertook this regimen was to assist me in learning self-defense. There have been a few occasions during departmental meetings and conference presentations when such knowledge would have been comforting.

But I have been surprised at how much this supposedly personal endeavor has affected my professional approach to pedagogy. I have discovered that the act of learning a new skill has significant implications for how I teach my students. Far from being a mere diversion, this new exercise has begun to reshape my approach to students in the classroom.

First, I am convinced that the act of continuous learning is inherently beneficial. Although we academics spend our professional time engaged in a contemplative life, it is rare that we venture well beyond our own provincial fields. I suspect that the act of acquiring new skills sharpens our wits and allows our minds to remain active and ever-seeking. I have seen similarities drawn between my own areas of research (philosophy and religious studies) and the martial arts. These similarities help me to draw these connections for the class.

Second, my Tae-Kwon-Do classes have helped to keep before me the students’ perspective. A dozen years of graduate school has inoculated me to the initial shock and fear that can accompany the student’s initial exposure to a new area of study. But as I become a student again, I recognize that I do not know a great deal. As I see my instructors carefully going over the same forms, kicks and punches with me, it reminds me of the need to patiently explain and repeat materials in classes of my own. To learn from the ground up reinforces my own patience. My undergraduate years began several decades ago. I need reminders about how difficult the acquisition of knowledge can be.

Third, I hope that my own pursuit of knowledge can model a life-long desire for learning to my own students. They need to understand that their professors are also are engaged in learning. After a rather severe ankle sprain (incurred while foolishly sparring with a man half my age), I was forced to go public with my new-found pursuit. The treatment for my ankle required that I keep it inclined. This led to a very unprofessoral posture as I lectured to my class from a chair, left leg resting upon the desk, as if I were a photograph of one of those Russian leg dances, captured in mid-stride. A student asked “How did you hurt your leg, Dr. Taran?” I had a polished reply ready: “I twisted my ankle when I got into a fight over the weekend.” Apparently this story was so far outside my classroom persona that she didn’t even pause before her next question. “No really, Dr. Taran, how’d you do it?”

Such conversations, it is my hope, make me three dimensional to my students. They reveal me as not a flat, but rather a round character. (Of course, the alternative is that the students will instead see this as another manifestation of that vain attempt to recapture lost youth, most commonly seen around our campus faculty in either the comb-over hairstyle or the powerful sports car). Modeling a desire for learning is an effective way of conveying that same desire to students.

Lastly, learning a new skill keeps me well grounded. If Socrates is correct that an awareness of our own ignorance is the beginning of wisdom, then admitting that I know nothing about a field is an important first step. Arrogance and its stepbrother pomposity are the stock and trade of our profession. Starting a field anew might prove to be a necessary antidote. It is humbling to go to my first class and realize that I really don’t know the material—and that the seven year old to my right does! After signing up for the class, I learned to my horror that one of the instructors was a former student of mine. Now the tables are turned. The evaluated has become the evaluator and the hunter now is the hunted. Right before my test, he approaches me, shakes my hand and says, “Just remember what you’ve been taught and relax, you’ll do well on the test.” I can imagine myself uttering those words to my own students.

As the testing began, the students lined up according to the ranks of their belts. First in line are the black belts, next comes red, then brown, purple, blue, green, yellow and (lastly) white. I am a white belt, which means that I have to wait as teenagers and eight year olds line up in front of me. When the call is made for white belts to line up I am running alongside five and six year olds (including my own seven-year old daughter, ye gods!).

So why do I do it? I now see that taking up a new field improves my pedagogy. One night, after I make the same mistake for the third time, one of my instructors wryly asks “Aren’t you a professor or something?” But I am not. At least not here, here I am a student. And I am convinced that being a student makes me a better teacher.

1,000 Hit

Michael Young isn't the only one to get his 1,000th hit recently.

Today at 3:08 pm, the right reverend Dave Samples became the 1,000th hit on this tiny blog. Some bloggers get 1,000 hots a day, but I didn't really think that there would be that many people checking out Coffeespoons. Many of you have been consistently dropping by and I appreciate it. What started as a way to record some of my thoughts on family and spiritual matters has found a nice niche.

Some thoughts for those who regularly check in from time to time...

Extended family, I started this blogsite to keep you up to date with our little family. I’m glad that it has expanded a bit beyond that.

Kevin, Bowden and Dave, I have enjoyed your sites and feeling like I’ve gotten to know you (or at least, your cyber-persona). By far the best thing to come out of this site has been the wisdom I have received in some of our written comments.

Eddie and David, a mighty long time since our Carrol Park touch football days (with David running DIRECTLY over Eddie and I). It is exciting so see how God continues to bless your ministries.

Bobby, PTGirl, MrGinger and PoMonkey, I’m glad that we have a new outlet for our old friendships (was college really 17 years ago?!)

Lurkers, I don’t know who you are, but I do know where you live!!