Random Tuesday-ness

Ack, it's been almost a week.

Well, I have several very good excuses. I won't trot them out, but I know I've got them, if anyone wants to hear them.

Many thoughts, and again they will be random--I hope to be more organized and coherent later in the week. But tonight, I'm all over the map!

Rhetorical questions (reflections welcome!)
How do we integrate stewardship and our mission? By that I mean, how do we translate what is in our mission statement into ways that people can participate through time, treasure and talent?

If I change my template on Blogger, will I lose all my links and ring codes?

Why is my September calendar full already?

How do we build community in our congregations? How do we encourage folks to be friends, so that they call each other, go to the movies together, drop by each other's home, share recipes, etc?

Why do so many congregation members think the pastor should be the one to greet new people, when, if you ask them after a few visits, they say they would rather talk to another member, NOT the pastor? I guess we intimidate them.

And a couple of observations:
I was told today that many activists working with acquired immunity deficiency syndrome now want to use the term hiv/aids rather than HIV/AIDS, because the latter looks like yelling the name, and we don't, after all, yell the name of other diseases like DIABETES. Never mind that it's an acronym... I haven't heard people involved with ALS or COPD making this complaint. I am very very supportive of people living with HIV/AIDS--many of them are dear friends. But this seems a bit off the deep end to me.

To those who recommended "Getting Things Done," by ? Allen--thank you thank you! I've listening to it on CD (print not available), I haven't finished the first disc yet, and I'm already using what he says. Love it love it!

And to those who mentioned "Generation to Generation," by Friedman (why can't I remember first names tonight?), another big thank you. It had been sitting on my shelf and I just hadn't gotten around to it. A pastor friend said to me the other day (seeing on my coffee table), "Oh, you're reviewing Friedman?" She was shocked when I admitted I was reading it for the first time, but told me it would be the most useful book I read all year.

And now it's Rainbow Pastor time--some frozen yogurt, a good book (history of Canada) and bed.