tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20010538.post1736625779936428897..comments2023-10-06T06:24:23.622-04:00Comments on don't eat alone: extravagant belongingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20010538.post-36201547226774890772007-09-25T16:15:00.000-04:002007-09-25T16:15:00.000-04:00Your blog is wonderful. Thank you. Tonight, for ...Your blog is wonderful. Thank you. Tonight, for devotions for my membership commission, I am going to share this entry with them...it is pretty profound food for thought (no pun intended!). Peace to you as you navigate transition and leavetaking. <BR/>We just moved from Raleigh to Boston a year and few months ago. The Triangle is a great place to live and be...and Durham has some excellent, excellent restaurants.....revkjarlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03516266924883899536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20010538.post-89948539013915531352007-08-30T16:07:00.000-04:002007-08-30T16:07:00.000-04:00At my recent retreat one of our facilitators taugh...At my recent retreat one of our facilitators taught us about family systems theory and how it applies to churches. In one exercise five volunteers were arranged in a circle, and she wove twine in between them to create a five-pointed star. She then invited other students to come up and try to find a place in the "Church of the Star." The point was that organizations like churches have a structure at any given time that will by necessity change as people come and go; and thoughtful organizations will take some time thinking of ways to meaningfully and creatively integrate new people into the structure -- even if it means veteran members letting go of a cherished section of rope, so to speak, and reorganizing the structure.LutheranChikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02685566332651377907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20010538.post-4752027348083365262007-08-29T21:54:00.000-04:002007-08-29T21:54:00.000-04:00My wife and I co-chaired our parish's "Growth" com...My wife and I co-chaired our parish's "Growth" committee for several years. During this time, we realized that there were (at least) two distinct sets of people that our efforts needed to be directed to:<BR/>1) Those who'd not yet been introduced to our parish. These were the people we reached out to through advertising, etc.<BR/>2) Those who'd come in and sat in the pews and needed to navigate their way to belonging.<BR/><BR/>At first it was only amongst ourselves, but later we referred to the committee openly as "Finders and Keepers", and published leaflets like "Now that I'm here, what do I do?" I can't claim that we were more successful than anyone else had been or has been since, but I know we were actively trying to accomplish the incorporation that you describe. It definitely takes an intentional approach.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20010538.post-37670437916499383962007-08-28T23:45:00.000-04:002007-08-28T23:45:00.000-04:00Zorra,I hear what you're saying. I'm also one of t...Zorra,<BR/><BR/>I hear what you're saying. I'm also one of those who will keep knocking until someone lets me in. Not everyone is like that and church needs to be a place that offers community to more than the gregarious or tenacious ones. After all, the meek get to inherit the earth, not the determined.<BR/><BR/>Peace,<BR/>Miltondon't eat alonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16407613063346798197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20010538.post-39380076971825455142007-08-28T23:30:00.000-04:002007-08-28T23:30:00.000-04:00Great post. I'm sharing this one...Great post. I'm sharing this one...Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03119943581970095780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20010538.post-5449182642025846002007-08-28T12:47:00.000-04:002007-08-28T12:47:00.000-04:00I think that's true at every church (every type of...I think that's true at every church (every type of organization or group, actually), and only the peole who very intentionally take the initiative and strive to be included, will be. The church we have attended for fourteen years was just like that when we joined; we were pew-sitters (totally unlike us)for about six months until we decided that was ridiculous, and saw that we had to make the effort to be included. Not a malicious or exclusionary thing on anyone's part; just human nature.zorrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00301856272073306968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20010538.post-67155179095862144752007-08-28T05:30:00.000-04:002007-08-28T05:30:00.000-04:00Food for thought!Thank You.Chris H.Food for thought!<BR/>Thank You.<BR/><BR/>Chris H.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com