How was church today?

Welcome to Wondercafe2!

A community where we discuss, share, and have some fun together. Join today and become a part of it!

I kept my germy self at home yesterday ... nasty Christmas cold - which I may well have picked up at church the week prior! LOL. Anyway, am starting to feel slightly better ... fingers crossed for continuing that trend so I can enjoy the family Christmas celebrations.
 
I kept my germy self at home yesterday ... nasty Christmas cold - which I may well have picked up at church the week prior! LOL. Anyway, am starting to feel slightly better ... fingers crossed for continuing that trend so I can enjoy the family Christmas celebrations.
Hope you are better by Christmas. Also, anytime you are home on Sunday if you want to worship with us at Hillhurst our service is at 10:45 a.m. on Facebook (which would be 12:45 p.m. for you folks in Central Canada.
 
Hope you are better by Christmas. Also, anytime you are home on Sunday if you want to worship with us at Hillhurst our service is at 10:45 a.m. on Facebook (which would be 12:45 p.m. for you folks in Central Canada.
That's an excellent reminder - thank you for that! Is there a Christmas eve service?
 
At the Big Red Church we had a wonderful evening of fellowship and inspiration. We had about 100 guests from outside the congregation join us. The service was centred on a presentation of the nativity story by our children and youth. My reflections noticed that as we worshipped mothers all over the earth were giving birth. This moved the heart and soul of Christmas out of the past and into the present. As our guests were not much connected with religious practice, I kept my commentary rooted in language that our guests would be able to understand. The message did not celebrate religion; it celebrated the potential for human goodness at the heart of every child born into our world. We concluded with the singing of "Silent Night", while the community came forward to light a small candle. Wonderful to see a room filled with little lights shining bright. The benediction noticed that the light in our hands symbolized the light of God at the heart of each human being. All were encouraged to bear that light into all their relations. Not as religion but as love. Then we gathered round some apple cider and assorted baked goodies. Something like communion in disguise. The friendly buzz in the room brought joy to my heart.

The heart of our service was not depending on our gifts and abilities. It was our trust that God is able to make good use of our limited powers and abilities.
 
Worshiped at Knox today. Sermon was by Amy Haynes a candidate for ministry. I like a sermon that gets me thinking instead of telling me this that or the other. Amy will make a fine minster I'm thinking. Also, wonderful music as always and the best coffee in town on a Sunday morning.
 
Church was void and empty at our establishment ... possibly because many there do not like stuff causing thoughts and thinking. That's my impression due to the impulsiveness of what I've been told about knowledge, intelligence and data belonging to a closed guild.

That's why I know nothing of the sort ... as I've been told numerous times ... but I do question where thoughts go to when absent or abstract!Under the laws of conversion can this be ... when things appear not? Is that defined by variants of incarnate?

I once found a description of the understanding of the word incarnate as an image of something that isn't ... but still appears to be ... or more accurately something that "appears as not"! Is that essence or just elusive ... as LG King's Ruag? Sheer tapestry of the myth ... one rye lass!
 
GeoFee...It sounds like you really know how to prepare a worship based on the audience you have. I love that. And You Just Never Know...I too like a message that makes me think. Our minister is losing some pep lately and not delivering new or inspirational messages. Not sure what to do about that...And on Christmas Eve, she threatened to apply to a different church when she thought she wasn't getting her sizable Christmas bonus. (After admitting to not preparing anything new all of December...just borrowing from past services and making a big deal about why we shouldn't have a Christmas Eve service!). Not sure what is going on with her, but many people still love her, remembering back to when she did deliver inspiration. I am thankful that, as a LLWL, I get to do my own preparation for a couple of Sundays each month...helps keep the Word alive and well for me.
 
And on Christmas Eve, she threatened to apply to a different church when she thought she wasn't getting her sizable Christmas bonus. (After admitting to not preparing anything new all of December...just borrowing from past services and making a big deal about why we shouldn't have a Christmas Eve service!). Not sure what is going on with her

Sounds to me like the relevant committee, or at least representatives thereof, need to have a chat with her and see if some kind of support is needed. When someone's performance goes downhill like that, there is usually a reason and it may not be work-related (health, family, etc.).
 
I thought, Christmas bonus only happen in National Lampoon Christmas vacation. As far as I know, the ministers in the congregations I belonged to didn’t get bonusses. The other staff got an extra $100 once.
 
I have sometimes received a bonus. I have never expected one. Though money does follow my service, it does nothing to motivate that service.
It seems a bit odd to me to have a bonus for a minister depending on his/ her performance. What would you measure performance by? Increase in bums in the pew? Number of marriages and funerals? How many people like the sermons?( how do you determine that number?). If a bonus is meant as a Christmas gift, it should be part of the contract/ agreement with the congregation and independent from performance. There are 300+ critics in the pews, who is the one to determine the performance? Considering that ministers hardly ever can skip Christmas and go somewhere else with their family, a bonus might be just an acknowledgement of that ( but should be in the contract).
Otherwise, just give him/ her chocolates and a card.
 
It seems a bit odd to me to have a bonus for a minister depending on his/ her performance.

Yeah, I mean in the corporate world it's usually tied to making budget or achieving a sales target or similar measurable goals (e.g. I get a bonus if we achieve budget overall since I work at the corporate level, branch staff are tied specifically to the performance of their branch) but a church doesn't necessarily have measurable goals like that, at least that can be solely pinned on the minister (e.g. congregational growth or increased givings are measurable goals but aren't entirely, or even mainly, the minister's purview, the board and committees do a lot of that work). To my mind, the bonus would just be a "gift" for lasting another year rather than a true bonus in the classic sense.
 
Our M&P committee wishes the employees to have a free Christmas lunch, preferably together. Some/many years, this doesn't work due to scheduling, s**tty weather, etc. Gift cards have been determined to be an appropriate substitute.

Christmas bonus for a minister? What planet has this minister been living on?
 
I would say the few bonuses I received were tokens of positive regard for my relationship with the community. My acceptance being the expression of respect for their kindness and generosity. Such gifts, along with funeral and wedding gifts, were added to a fund I used in my support and advocacy among the poor in the streets of our cities. I had no need of them along my way of life.
 
Interesting input. Thanks. Our minister is not full-time, but we do pay her well, and include this bonus every year. I think we do it, in part, with the understanding that 'not full time' often means more hours than a typical part-time job would entail. But there are several issues that concern me, that I will bring up with the Ministry and Personnel Committee. Even if the issues do not get dealt with (afraid of losing a minister...then what do we do?), I am concerned that we have allowed certain lapses that should be dealt with before we hire someone else.
 
Nancy said:
Our minister is losing some pep lately and not delivering new or inspirational messages. Not sure what to do about that...And on Christmas Eve, she threatened to apply to a different church when she thought she wasn't getting her sizable Christmas bonus.

I'd call that bluff.

Not sure where this clergy person thought that extortion was an appropriation tactic.

Whether or not clergy receive a bonus is, I would think, first and foremost a decision made by the congregational leadership. It would be an act of graciousness and not the result of a shakedown.

In years past I have received bonuses larger, smaller or not at all. I have always been grateful for what has been graciously offered and I have accepted that congregations that can not, do not or will not also come to that decision faithfully and graciously.

I would see such threats as reported as disciplinary offences.
 
Wesley-Knox again. The sermon was entitled "Born for this". It reflected on the current tough times in both the church and the world and how Jesus and the church really exist for such times, to restore the light. Good sermon overall, certainly inspiring. It was delivered by the same lay preacher as last time (he has been preaching most services since August) but this is his final Sunday in the pulpit for a while. He and his wife are involved in aid work in South Sudan (some of it supported by W-K) and he is headed there for a month.

Music was all Epiphany themed, including a bluegrass number from two members (voice, guitar, banjo). Organ was broken (blower died on Thursday) but the music director did just fine with their baby grand piano.

Prayers and general leadership were by their former minister and were well done as is usual for him.

Next week they have a congregational meeting scheduled to vote on a community profile. Approval of this is part of beginning a search for a minister. They apparently have some ambitious plans in the document but I have not read it to know exactly what is up.
 
For those curious, the lay supply is Glen Pearson, a retired firefighter turned activist. He is former director of the London Food Bank and was my riding's MP during the Martin government.

The former minister is Rev. Tom Hiscock.
 
Back
Top