Politics

I spent most of yesterday at Fresh Start, a Diocese-mandated continuing education program for priests taking up new appointments. This is my second year in the program, and after having been through most of this stuff already in three years of Momentum (also a Diocese-mandated program) I've about reached my fill. Certainly the didactic content is old hat. Three years of looking at PowerPoint slides with titles like, "Power, Authority, and Influence," gets a little old. The real value of these programs is the opportunity to share real ministry problems in an atmosphere of collegiality and trust. This kind of group problem solving really plays to the strengths of most pastor-types. Still, I think it might be helpful to condense or abandon most of the didactic material and replace it with prayer, discernment, and more "spiritual" stuff. I think most of us priests are more in need of that than more slides about dealing with parish conflict!

Came home--nursed Betsy (she has been feeling under the weather), made dinner, then watched the U.S. Vice Presidential Debate. It was a much better debate than the McCain-Obama debate last week--more substance and more civility. I was particularly impressed with the amount of time Palin and Biden spent talking to each other after the debate. They clearly enjoyed the exchange and have evident mutual respect. I'm very excited about this election. I even sent my (Absentee) Ballot off last week!

-t

Gut Check

As part of the "Fresh Start" program mandated by the Diocese for clergy beginning new cures, today I took two clergy stress inventories. I was pleased to discover that my current stress level is lower than most of my colleagues that have begun new calls. I think this is due, in equal measure, the Wardens, the staff, the congregation, and myself. I think we are simply in a good place and that this transition is going extremely well.

This feeling that things are going well occurred to me Tuesday when I had a moment of "gut check." I was walking home up the hill and was filled with a sense of pride in my congregation and enormous affection for them and for our project on Avenue Road (i.e. the church). I thought to myself, "that's it. I simply need to love them." It was a great feeling to have in the gut.

That's not to say that I don't have my moments--just that the overall picture is bright, indeed.

-t

Fresh Start pt 2

Today I had the second session of "Fresh Start"--a program for clergy transitioning into new incumbencies. The content was a refresher course on Family Systems Theory, which ought to be review for anyone who went to seminary in the last 15 years. It is interesting to note, though, how steep the learning curve is from the basics of the theory to more subtle understandings of its application. Edwin Friedman, who pioneered the use of Family Systems Theory for understanding congregational dynamics, has many fascinating examples of how he was able to totally transform situations through the masterful understanding of these underlying dynamics. So on the surface it's all quite obvious and intuitive, but it's quite complex once you delve into it. Anyway, I was kind of bored by this part of the day.

After lunch we examined a real live case example and did some troubleshooting around it. I found that more helpful as some excellent ideas did emerge from the group that I can apply to COTM in the future.

After Fresh Start let out I went to the church and got to work assembling a bookcase from Ikea for my office. It took me 1 1/4 hours to do one unit, and I still have a second to assemble. Once it's done I can finally unpack my office for good. I think that will make a number of people feel better (including myself).

It reminds me of the Family Systems insight that it doesn't take much change in an environment (like the arrangement of furniture in an office or a worship space) to transform people in powerful ways.

-t

Fresh Start

I spent today at a monthly meeting of Fresh Start, which is a Diocesan program for priests starting new positions. It meets monthly to discuss church transition theory, learn skills, and share stories. Much of the value comes from being able to hash through actual cases in a high-trust, collegial environment. It involves several people that I know, including Lisa Newland (St. Matthew's, Oshawa), John Stephenson (St. Timothy's, Agincourt), and Drew MacDonald (St. John's, York Mills). Thoughtful group--exactly the kind of people to do some serious pastoral problem solving.

The "old" Rectory is still causing me heartburn. I'm meeting with someone tomorrow about it and hopefully we can come up with a plan. Stay tuned.

My mom is coming this weekend for Canadian Thanksgiving--should be lots of fun to see her. This will be the first time she has seen the new house. We are planning to do the whole turkey thing. It's not thanksgiving without Tryptophan.

Tryptophan is the chemical in Turkey that makes you sleepy and promotes feelings of well-being. Here's a snippet from Wikipedia:

For some time, tryptophan was available in health food stores as a dietary supplement. Many people found tryptophan to be a safe and reasonably effective sleep aid, probably due to its ability to increase brain levels of serotonin (a calming neurotransmitter when present in moderate levels) and/or melatonin (a sleep-inducing hormone secreted by the pineal gland in response to darkness or low light levels).

Clinical research tended to confirm tryptophan's effectiveness as a sleep aid and for a growing variety of other conditions typically associated with low serotonin levels or activity in the brain such as premenstrual dysphoric disorder and seasonal affective disorder. In particular, tryptophan showed considerable promise as an antidepressant alone, and as an "augmenter" of antidepressant drugs.

Tryptophan is also available as a prescription ("Tryptan") and is mostly used by psychiatrists to augment other anti-depression drugs. So eat your turkey!

I'm thinking hard about adopting another cat. Denise is absolutely thriving in our house and I think she'd love to have a companion to be with while we are away. There are many cute kittens available and it's hard not to be seduced.

That reminds me, I need to get some fish and some plants for my office. If you want growth you need to orient yourself to living creatures.

It's a slightly odd Gospel lesson this Sunday. And I'm supposed to do something with the kids. It's the parable of the mustard seed, so that has potential, I suppose, but what to do with the rest of the passage? Hmm.

-t