A Positively Poetic Priest

  How much should we give? There is not a magic number for how much anyone should give. Traditionally, the tithe is set at 10% of total income. However, any amount which stretches you to know that you are giving without sending you into (more) debt is acceptable. How can we help our church have more money? Naturally, giving to the church is one way people can help the church have more money. Other ways include doing fundraisers for the church, inviting people to visit and join the church, finding grants and scholarships for different ministries of the church, and praying for the financial stability of the church. How can children tithe? It is a great idea to involve your children in giving back to the church! Children can tithe or give back in many ways alongside adults. If they have an allowance, they can save 10% of their allowance to give back to God. If they don’t, they participate in volunteering to work fundraisers, volunteering for appropriate service proje...

The schools of birds swoop and dive crisscrossing into and out of and through each other and the children never notice caught up they are in the balls and each other playing games are all afoot they don't even know another's name but of what importance are names to those who do not know and fun calls to you and joy and delight dance with you yet you barely know your self to be dancing! The birds are dancing overhead. The adults are sitting along the sides trying hard not to ponder life's greatest mysteries despite being faced with them so clearly, dearly why does being self conscious mean knowing others are watching you and not that you know your self because two separate things are being awkwardly uncomfortable always seeking outside validation for your self and being free to swoop like a bird so easily conscious of your self as simply enough

Proper 22 B 4 October 2015 Eternal God, heavenly Father, we are grateful for all the gifts you have given us, even when those gifts are seen as weakness, for in you weakness is turned to strength and darkness is turned to light, with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.  One of my coping mechanisms when I feel overwhelmed is to clear off a wide flat surface, my dining room table for instance, and put down all the things I feel overwhelmed about on it. I write sticky notes of what my worries are and I put them on the table as well. I spread everything out so that I can see it and find ways to move forward. As I was thinking about this morning, I got a little overwhelmed. So, I want you to envision a clean table with me.  First, today is St. Francis of Assisi day and later we will be blessing the pets of the parish. We will put a little statute of St. Francis on our table. Second, today is part of our stewardship campaign. Put that pledge card on the table. Third, to...