A Success, I Hope

 So, for all of my hem-hawing and worry.... the first (in a while) Cuyahoga East District Meeting of the SVDP went fairly well, if I do say so myself.  We had 21 people (I was surprised!) and all but one of the parishes made it.  I brought pizza, drinks, and chips; Downtown brought the prayer; and St. Monica supplied the locale (the parish pavilion) and dessert.  We went til 8 (started at 6), and broke up only because of the weather -- we could see the lightning and hear the thunder.  In consequence, we didn't get to all of the stuff on my agenda, but everyone met each other, we discussed our conferences and our work, and... well, I guess, to me, two nice things were: 

1)  Everyone got to meet each other -  a couple of people on the way out told me they didn't know we had a conference/members at parish X; and

2) By sharing our ministries and battle stories everyone realized that we were all on the same page -- high demand, need more volunteers, concerns about home visits, problem client management.  ALL of our conferences had these issues, and it was good to see people exchanging phone numbers, emails, notes, that sort of thing.  I mean, if someone has a good idea at ONE parish it's worth a shot elsewhere.

On the downside...well, I don't think Downtown will fire me, so my Mother's most earnest prayer went unanswered.  My sister, of course, was amused.

The rain was impressive.  I think we dodged the first round of storms -- tornado warnings to the south -- but the second went through an hour ago and brought us some rain and wind, which I guess we needed.  It didn't seem too heavy, though my open windows let in plenty of breeze.  

With Turning Point Faith, pastors use politics as a church-growth strategy (religionnews.com)

I don't know; for one, this is the Great Sort I keep hearing about, so I am not surprised that conservatives also want to go to church with like-minded people.  Liberals can attend Pride rallies and do whatever they do, and GOPers can go to church... so what?  That said, I also find it amusing that people are complaining about a church that is growing; considering what is happening to religious attendance in this country, one would think more pastors would start this (especially on the Protestant side) to get butts in the pews.