RISKING VISION:

Kids playing in the aisle...the rooster crows for Saturday church "Wake up the person on your left" so you can hear this budget moment one more time.

Write your representative for youth on the streets

"Say grace already"    

Good Carrot cake...but what happened to the decaf   Ameni

 

Tornados swirling destroying still...

    Steeples standing tall again....rainbows reign

    Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain    Ameni

 

Pastoral Excellence;   practices, prepares, prevails

Christian Educators; certified to form faith for the fragile and fearless   Ameni

 

First the bad news, the church of Jesus Christ is in terrible shape

    the pain of seeing too clearly

    a 9 pound sparrow walking down the street afraid to risk flying

    Yeast,  Bread,  Leavened, encrypted, corrupted, subversive

    Off White, Linen White, OR Pearl White

    revolutionary to resolutionary -- a tamed Gospel

    Operation Homage.    Oh No He's Back.  Seasonal Themes

    Non compliant with principalities and powers

    Non compliant with "We've never done it that way before."

    The Surgeon General has determined that Easter may be hazardous to your health.  Be warned     Ameni

 

That Underground Church:   "This might get the church in a lot of trouble" ... "We can only hope!"

 

A teacher in a class that is 90% poor.  500,000 miles Hope's two daughters: anger and courage Statistics are numbers, faces, with the tears wiped away One Day,  One Day, One Day

A farewell full of feeling, a release full of remembrance   Ameni

 

"Then there was evening and morning; the Second Day

 

A paralytic has his sins forgiven...fear released...walking healed

    Dangerous and Subversive, again it lives

    Take up your prophetic pallet and change the world    Ameni

 

Ellie installed

 

Plenary begins with plentiful salads an hour before lunch Speak quickly before the bell rings

Pithy, Powerful and Passionate speakouts    Ameni

 

Budgets Born

Compensation Confirmed

Ministerial Aid maximizes assistance    Ameni

 

Can we get better?    Yes, with depth, courage and bridge-building

Commissions transformed to Councils working collaboratively, cooperatively in coordination and communication An evolution in our ministry with latino and latina brothers and sisters

    building on the foundation of the past

    reflecting the trends of the present

    encuentra - a finding of each other      Ameni

 

Wrapped ourselves in rainbow scarves that love and grace may triumph over bullying and violence    Ameni

 

He who plays well with others

    Calling out names of the visionary prophets who shaped our lives

    From preaching to meddling

       Who are we?

       Who is our neighbor?

       What is God Calling us to do and to be?

       RISKING VISION       Ameni

 

       Not    A     Problem

 

      Grateful for staff coming and going     applause abounds

 

      Courageous firsts

          A Torah and a Crucifer cross the finish line, reclaiming public space, holy space

      No Limit to what we can accomplish in God      Ameni

 

"Peter, we give God thanks for you and your gifts."

    and that turtle on the stump

 

Warm greetings from Chile....Gloria A Dios

 

Churches going Green

 

The media linked to Us    Voices amplified

    25% of your time, your pastor's time, spent outside the walls of your church with the 'Nones"

 

Morally wrong to wreck the planet or profit from it

 

Life's cycles leaving legacies carrying ministry forward      Ameni

 

Songs have been sung

Prayers whispered

Praise shouted

Silence held    Ameni

 

What are you Bringing Home

What difference will it make

 

"The Lord answered me and said, Write the vision: make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it."

 

Ameni

 

Amen