No dig up stupid!

Just a little note as I struggle to keep my mind on my homework. No actually I am taking a snack break and figured that since I will not likely have a chance to note anything here in the next few weeks I might want to explain what all I am hip deep in. I had most of my Friday off and really none of Saturday and I will not be off again until Aug. 11. In the meantime, Vacation Bible School starts tomorrow moring and runs each morning this week. In the middle of that I have a Mexico Mission Trip to prepare for that starts on Saturday, yes, the day after VBS ends. I am also finishing up planning for a beach camping retreat for college students in the District. Then I have my homework that I am currently not doing. On the plus side, my congregation stepped out in faith today and restored staff salaries to their previous levels even though they are currently behind on the budget as it was reduced. This is daring, but faithful. They are not blindly trusting, but acting in faith that they as a church can, with the strength of Christ Jesus, support the ministry that they have as a congregation been placed in Huntington Beach to carry out. And now back to work.

See you in Canton Tim!

I shoot you in the name of Jesus!

I was taking a look around church web-sites for ideas for an up-cooming seminar our church is putting on for web-ministry and I ran across this oddity. Is there really a way that you can shoot someone in a distinctly Christian manner why playing paintball? Are church membership record checked when you enter the park? I was half joking last week with my father-in-law about creating a paintball park on his land outside of William, AZ, but now that I have seen this maybe I should take the idea just a bit more seriously. Check it out further at http://www.promisedland.com.

Stuck in the middle

While on a spiritual retreat this weekend (Danny a more detailed review of Cursillo will follow after Andrea is safely off to her weekend and way from internet access) is was again struck by the interesting place the DCE (Director of Christian education) profession has in the LCMS or the larger Christian community for that matter. Unlike many church bodies, the Baptists for example, the LCMS did not turn to a youth pastor concept in response the the youth ministry movement of the mid 20th Century. Rather than formulating a division of the pastoral ministry, the LCMS developed a division of the teaching ministry in creating the DCE. As a modified teacher, the DCE is more based in education ministry than the pastoral ministry of the Baptist youth pastor. Training events put on in the larger Christian community for youth ministry are always just a bit of a variance for the generalist DCE to recontextualize for their own ministry.

Now why I say that we as DCE's are stuck in the middle grows out of my reflection in trying to figure out my place in the scheme of things on this spiritual retreat, and the parallels to the LCMS church polity. The standard categories used to distinguish shepherd from the flock, are clergy and laity. I cannot say that I find myself very comfortable with either being applied to myself. I am a DCE not a pastor and as such, though IRS would put me in the clergy category, LCMS does not. On the other hand I am in ministry, not in the sense of Luther's priesthood of all believers, but in the professional, vocational, called sort of way. So there I sit, listening to both pastoral and lay talks on this weekend, wondering where do I fit, where does the DCE fit. The LCMS gives a vote to congregations in convention in two forms, one vote from the clergy per congregation and one vote from the laity per congregation, and once again there is the DCE (and other church workers) wondering about their place in the whole scheme of things.

I have heard and read arguments that would restrict all ministry to the pastoral office. That would go so far as to claim that there is not other proper Biblical office. I have heard and read arguments that place all church professions on an even footing, almost entirely removing any clergy/laity distinction. I find both views to be lacking and unsatisfying. And I remain in the middle wondering. No answers thus far, just questions.