New Lily Pictures

Here are some new pictures of darling Lily - who now 17 months old.

UPDATE ON OVER 50 FUN

Well, well, well - It seems like things are just getting started with Dr. Chui. I wasn't sure how we stood after our last get together, but it seems like we hit it off better than I thought. He wants to see me again. Some of the results came back pre-cancerous - so I get to do it all over again in three years.

When it rains it pours!

This has been a crazy day. I'm up in SF watching Aric and Abel while Peter and Amber attend a really cool trade show in LA. We have been having a good time hanging out. Earlier Micah calls with news that Kimberly may have some problems with the baby and her health and the doctors are wondering if they should terminate the pregnancy or induce early labor - After we all flipped out the doctors decided things weren't as bad as they thought and Kimberly could continue the pregnancy - but she needs to come back for tests after the delivery.... Then Melia calls and they are taking Lily to the emergency ward because she is favoring her left arm and whimpering when mom and dad try to move it . . . Last I heard all was well - but they were waiting to see another doctor. They haven't called back so I'm hoping that is good news. I am keeping my kids and grandkids in nonstop prayer.

Something new

I'm experimenting with posting a video. This may / may not work

Over Fifty Fun

Well, well, well, there are so many new fun after 50 experiences! I finally gave in to my doctor's wishes a few days ago and completed my complete physical examination. Yes, COMPLETE physical examination. Last Friday Dr. Chui, a very nice man went where no man has gone before. He was great and the procedure was painless and over before I knew it - BUT no flowers, no dinner and not even a phone call the next morning. Well, actually his nurse called yesterday to see how I was doing, but I though that was a bit impersonal.

The strangest part of the procedure was waking up half way through, watching everything on a monitor and getting a guided tour of my innards by Dr. Chui as he was extracting the five foot long endoscope. Very surreal. He gave me a set of pictures to take home to commemorate the event. I decided that I would save you and not post them here.

Getting Ready for Easter

I'm really looking forward to Easter Sunday. I will be preaching on the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel as the ultimate vision of resurrection. I am working on a powerpoint background for Easter that is from a picture of one of our sanctuary's stain glass windows.
I need to go to Costco and pick out a roast or ham or some festive cut of meat. Peter and Amber, Micah and Kimberly, Melia and Micah and Lily will all be coming for Easter dinner. It should be a great time. I'm hoping to have a dart board set up.

Holy Week

Palm Sunday was very good. I really felt confident getting back to preaching. We had good attendance and I felt that Jesus was with us. Today is a busy day - pastor's prayer meeting, new tires on the car, finish taxes, mail a book I sold on eBay, counseling, support group and more - I think I need to get over the reality that I won't complete everything and just complete the most important items. Here is a new picture of my darling granddaughter -

Thanks for the prayers

Thanks for the prayers and keep praying! Church was great and God is good. This is a song by Chris Tomlin that keeps running through my mind and I want to make it my song and prayer:

Verse 1
Caught in the half-light
I'm caught alone
Waking up to the sunrise
And the radio
Feels like I'm tied up what's holding me
Just praying today will be the day I go free

And I want to live like there's no tomorrow
I want to dance like no one's around
I want to sing like nobody's listening
Before I lay my body down
I want to give like I have plenty
I want to love like I'm not afraid
I want to be the man I was meant to be
I want to be the way I was made


Verse 2
Made in Your likeness
Made with Your hands
Made to discover who You are
And who I am
All I've forgotten help me to find
All that You've promised let it be in my life

The Way I Was Made
Authors: Chris Tomlin
Ed Cash
Jesse Reeves
Copyright: 2004 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
Alletrop Music (Admin. by Music Services)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Back to work

After taking around a month off from ministry, I am returning this morning. I am surprised at how apprehensive and anxious I feel. I have felt great love from the church and from God, so I'm not sure why I am feeling these feelings. I am trusting that God will meet me in worship today and affirm my calling and gifting as a pastor.

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa

My parents stopped by last weekend. We had a great time. Family is so precious. Here are my parents with their great grandaughter.

A Poem

This is a wonderful poem and picture that my daughter made for me as a Father's Day present about 10 years ago. The picture is from 1985 or '86 when we spent a very happy day spent at Pictured Rocks National Monument in Munising, MI. Micah can be seen as a toddler and Melia must be a first grader. I was 30 something. There is a picture of the poem as the layout seems to add to the feeling and meaning.


Inadequate words of good intent to sooth things unspoken.
I show my heart, my need, your constant gift of patience, kindness, this is love.

Take peace, know that you have given all-
Know that He knows, Know that he loves- that the eyes of a proud Father look down upon you as the eyes of a daughter look up for guidance.

Things lost, life rushes on- you’ve not been swept aside.
A constant faith, unending selfless striving to show your heart, to fill the need with your gift of patience, kindness, this is love.

A nice picture

This picture was taken at Max's Deli. Lily was about 2 months old at that time. A lot of folks have been asking about Teri. She has just been transfered to a new recovery program, It is a 90 day to 6 month program. She cannot call home for the first 2 weeks. I hope she can find some help there. If you email me, I can send her address.

More New Baby News!

In the middle of all the crazy stuff going on with our family, I was so happy to find out that MIcah and Kimberly are expecting a baby boy! This is the latest ultrasound. It is a close up of the babies face. They have chosen, Jediah, for his first name. It means "hand of God". Micah wants to call him Jedi for short. I can't wait to have another baby around. Lily has been growing up so fast. She is walking and starting to talk. A few days ago words began to have real meaning for her. It was so fun to watch. She can say and understand; up, cracker, cheese, shoes, olive, and cat. It is amazing how you can have a meaningful conversation with so few words. Well, at least Lily and I can.

Kind Words from Pastor Nancy Schell

You might have heard of the hard time our family has been going through. The church has been wonderfully supportive and kind. Here are some kind words from Rev Nancy that were written for the church newsletter:
Dear Family,
We here at Westminster are a particular part of the family of God. Called together by our Lord, we continue to learn day by day what it means to be a healthy family. How does each of us learn the skills necessary for living together? How do we care for each other, support each other, accept each other for the persons we are?
For almost eighty years, Westminster has been my family--through the good times and the hard times. Eight years ago, we called Rev. Steve and Teri Norman into this family, to walk with us and help us grow and change. I have watched as Steve has helped us find a new vision of what Westminster can become.
I have admired Steve's honesty, openness, and vulnerability. One of my continuing frustrations is how we can care and love each other if we are not willing to admit where we are hurting. How can we be "wounded healers" unless we are willing to reveal our own struggles? Pastor Steve has been a model of this by his personal integrity.
As the Apostle Peter wrote in his letter to the Christians scattered over the known world, "You are a kingdom of priests." Today each of us here at Westminster is a priest for our God, speaking for our Lord to the people and speaking for the people to our Lord. Right now we are called to pray to God for Pastor Steve and Teri in their struggles, to care for them, and support them with our love. Tomorrow any one of us might be the one who stands in that place of need.
Together let us be the Body of Christ!

Dear church -

Worship is more that sitting in the sanctuary on Sunday Mornings. The word "worship" actually means "work of the people". We often think of worship as prayer, preaching, sacraments and singing. Worship can involve all four elements, but worship is more than that. Worship is serving God. Everything we do as service to the Lord is worship. When we share God's love in real tangible ways it is worship. Just imagine you could be washing the dishes and worshiping God at the same time. No cathedral, no organ, no pulpit necessary! So, why is it necessary to meet together on Sundays?

We need to be together in worship on Sundays because we are part of a community together. Following Jesus is more than a solitary pursuit. It is also a walk along side and with others who are also following Jesus. There are times to worship alone and times to worship together. There are times we worship through serving God and others in very practical, visible ways and times we worship and serve in ways that may seem invisible. Singing out together, speaking out together, believing God hears and responds may not seem practical to some, but things happen unseen - deep in our hearts. These are the invisible workings of God in us that become visible as we live out our worship in our daily lives. The Holy Spirit mysteriously moves through the prayers, songs, words, signs, hand shakes, hugs and symbols we share on Sunday morning. Worship should always be God-centered, but we do benefit and receive hope and strength when we worship the living God together. We have a lone solitary life in Christ and a together body life in Christ. Both are real and both are necessary parts of the Christian life. Come; let's worship together this Sunday.

Capernaum

We are blessed to have an awesome ministry meet at our church called the Capernaum Project. The minster to youth and youg adults with disabilities - The local paper published a wonderful article about them at http://www.rosegardenresident.com/rg-cover.shtml - or click on the title of this article

New Baby on the Way

Well, Micah and his girl friend Kimberly are expecting. Here the sonogram. Kimbery is sure you can see the face. Teri and I are happy to have another grandbaby on the way. Lily has a new cousin on the way.

Jammin at the open mic

I'm sitting using the free wifi at an open mic that Melia is putting on. Not many people here - so I felt brave enough to sing a few songs. How strange that the few people who were here decided to take that as their que to leave. I seem to have that affect on folks.... I used to play country music but no one could every figure out which country it was from...

Holy Huddles

Someone once criticized Sunday morning worship by calling it a holy huddle. I guess the put down is deserved when a church becomes self-centered and isolated from her community. But when church is Jesus-centered, servant-minded and turned outward towards her community a holy huddle could be a positive thing and a necessary part of being whole and healthy.

In football the huddle is a time for the players to gather behind the scrimmage line in order to plan the next play. In the best sense, Sunday worship is kind of like a holy huddle. A weekly time to gather together all the players on God's team so we can regroup and get the plans for the next play.

Could you imagine what it would be like for a football team if players stepped on to the field without attending the huddle? How could they ever hope to get the ball across the field? How could the coach plan the plays not knowing which players knew the plans or would show for the game?

With this in mind, part of the Faith Promise Card asked Westminster members to make worship and prayer priorities for 2006. I was encouraged to see that out if all the Faith Promise Cards received, 54 individuals pledged to make worship and prayer priorities for 2006. This is a great start, but I would like to see that number increase before the year is over. I'm hoping that at least 200 people would make a commitment to be in worship and to pray for our church in 2006. It is hard to be a winning team, when players miss the huddle. Consider sending a email (steve@revnorman.com), phoning a message (294-7447 X12) or drop a note in the offering basket and let me know that you want Westminster to be winning team and will make worship and prayer priorities in 2006.

Jr High Time

Well, it's 2;26 AM and I just discover a wireless access signal in the Christain Ed building. What am I doing here at 2:30 AM? We are having a fun cool Jr High lock in! We went to see the new Narnia Movie - It was great! Earlier in the day we decorated a room to look like Narnia. The kids had to enter through a wardrobe and we had a lamp post and stone table. The thought it was pretty cool. Right now the girls are in one room watching movies and the guys are in another room playing video games. True jr. high!

Becoming one church with two main languages and many cultures

"For my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations." From Is. 56:7

Our congregation is made up of individuals from many different cultures and countries. In 2003, we received a Transforming Church Grant from our denomination to help us grow as a church and explore this wonderful thing that God is doing at Westminster. In 2004, we were able to move Rev. Stella from a non-ordained position to an ordained call to Associate Pastor of Hispanic Ministries. Every Sunday, separate worship services are held in Spanish and English. There are many other Spanish classes and ministries during the week as well.

The goal is not to bring everyone to the same cultural behaviors, but to bring everyone to a more full relationship with God. We are committed to celebrating the differences between the people within the church and seeking to help each person meet God in the setting which they feel most natural.

Some of the activities associated with this effort are:

• Intentionally combine activities with English and Spanish speaking members
o Men’s Breakfast
o Women’s Retreat
o Mother’s Day Dinner
o Cross-Preaching
o Bilingual Services
• Build more leadership from Communidad Latinoamericana for the whole church –Deacons/Elders

Celebrating Children and Youth, being intergenerational

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them..." From Matthew 19:14

Westminster has always placed high value on children and youth. We see the youth and children of the church as part of the body of Christ today, and the core of the church tomorrow. Over the next year, there will be an intentional emphasis on building Westminster's youth ministry.

Along with the value given to the children and youth of the church is a desire for healthy connections between all age groups. WPC has a strong belief that the older members of the church have valuable insights for the younger, and that activities and programs that encourage contact and cooperation among older and younger members of the church are beneficial to the vitality and growth of the whole church.

Some of the activities associated with this effort:

• New youth director for Jr. and Sr. High
• Develop volunteer staff for youth programs
• Fix-up CE Building
o Nursery remodeled
o Playground remodeled
o Bathrooms remodeled (3 more)
o Carpets in 2 rooms (3yr. old & computer room)
• Intentional intergenerational programming

Reaching out to others by showing God’s love in practical ways

"Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth" 1 John 3:18


We desire to reach out in a way that will allow and encourage open conversations about how God loves us.

Some of the activities associated with this effort are:

• Servant Evangelism outreaches
• A church-wide philosophy of ministry that focuses on practical applications of faith

Becoming a faithful partner with our neighborhood

"The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood." From John 1:14, The Message

Westminster is actively involved with many of the neighborhood associations, business associations, and volunteer groups operating in the same community as the church building. Many of these groups currently use the Westminster facilities for meetings. Neighborhood involvement is a response to God's call to be good stewards of the world. It is also a way to live out God's command to love our neighbors. As Westminster takes seriously its commitment to the local community, all church members will be inspired to be good stewards in their own local communities.

Some of the activities associated with this effort are:

• Create a greater awareness in the congregation of WPC's community involvement.
• Further a common understanding of the Biblical basis for community involvement
• Increase Westminster’s visibility in the neighborhood
• Making our property more attractive and accessible

Yoda's Parents

Here is Yoda Baby with her Star Wars parents!

Yoda Baby

I'm interrupting all this church talk to post a picture of my granddaughter as Yoda.

Inspiring personal outreach in our own communities and around the world

"You are the light of the world….let your light shine…" From Matthew 5:14 –16

One statement from a town hall meeting was something like this:
" I see a big emphasis on the church reaching out to its local community, but where do I learn how to reach out to
my friends and my community? "

One of the primary ways we see God working through Westminster is in the actions of church members reaching out to their neighbors.

Westminster is called to provide the training we each need to effectively reach out to our neighbors and show God’s love to those around us. A picture of this ministry would show the members of our church spread out through all of the neighborhoods in which we live and work, each individually reaching out to the people we know.

Some of the activities associated with this effort are:

• Making worship and prayer a priority
• Short Term Missions program
• Strategy to assimilate new people
• Leadership Training program
• Small Group Ministry

2006 WPC Vision

"So that the follower of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." From 2 Timothy 3:17

Over the last two years, there has been a deliberate effort to seek out God’s will for our church. This has included the work of the Vision Team formed in 2004, a series of Town Hall meetings with the congregation, and a large portion of the Session activities during 2005. Church leaders have been seeking God's leading, listening to you, and searching their hearts to discover what God is doing in the midst of our church. Early on in the process the session decided not to cast their own visions and ask God to bless what they wanted to do. Instead, the session has been seeking to discover what God is already doing because it is blessed already.

The results of this effort have been summarized in the following description of the primary objective of the church for the near term:

EQUIPPING AND CALLING CHRISTIANS OF ALL AGES TO ANSWER THE CALL OF GOD ON THEIR LIVES.

This vision comes directly from our mission statement and grows out of two presuppositions that are core values of Westminster. The first is a firm belief that all people have a God-given purpose in life. The second is the conviction that God calls the church to equip and inspire people to answer that call. The qualifying words, "of all ages,” speak to our commitment to seeing everyone of any age as a vital part of God's church.

I'll be blogging the descriptions of the major objectives and characteristics of the planned ministry of Westminster, and a set of specific goals for Westminster for the next 12-16 months.

Heading Home

We were happy that Dad could be near home for the rehab part. They sent a van and transported him to Placerville.

Sitting Up and Walking

The big challenge was to get up and walk!

Post Op

Here is dad on the the leg exercise machine and some other post-op pictures

See the surgery

This link (click on "see the surgery")shows great pictures of an actual knee replacement



When you ge there click on the photos link - unless you have a great amount of spare time and want to perform a virtual surgery...

At the hospital

As we waited the doctors came in ant marked Dad's legs and explained the prodcedure.

Dad's Surgery Day One

Here we are getting ready to go to the hospital at about 5:30 AM

Another baptism picture

Baptism!

.
Lily Mann was baptised last Sunday. It was Pentcost Sunday and the Holy Spirit was with us as we worshipped! Melia and Micah renewed their baptisms and promised to raise Lily in the faith and teach her about Jesus. The congregation stood and promised the same. Lily smiled as I carried her around and showed her off to everyone. It was a great day!

Despair.inc

I came across this web site that sells "de-motivational" materials. It is a tongue in cheek response to companies that sell motivational materials such posters, plaques and cups with sayings that are designed to inspire. This company, Despair.inc, designs the same sort of items, but they are designed to discourage. Their poster product lines have names like: Team Breakers, Positive Negations, and Megalomaniacal Maxims. I found the collection to be quite amusing. But then, you know me…

One poster struck me in a way that was never intended by the designer. The poster pictured a beautiful close up of one drop of water plopping gracefully into a serene placid pool. The title read, "Irresponsibility: No one raindrop believes it is to blame for the flood."

As I was smiling, I thought about attendance at worship. I imagine that no one is surprised that a pastor's thoughts would flow in that direction. It occurred to me how wonderful it is to worship in a church that is full and well attended. There is an enthusiasm and spiritual life in a well-attended worship service that rises and grows like a refreshing, renewing, flowing flood. Would that every Sunday would be as well attended as Easter Sunday!

I think most of us choose to attend worship by determining what we might get out of attending worship. Will we like the music? What will the sermon be about? Will I get something out of it? The poster from Despair.Inc made me think that we also come to worship to contribute to the whole worship experience by being a part of it. I doubt if anyone person attending feels responsible for the flood, but we are. Each person who makes that decision to get up, get dressed and attends worship joins with the next and makes up the congregation each Sunday. Together we are the body of Christ and each individual member contributes to the wholeness of Christ's body. Together our praises rise up like a flood. And no one raindrop believes it is to blame for the flood, but it is! Hope to see you Sunday at 10:30 AM. It won't be the same without you.

Seminary 20th Reunion

Here are some pictures from the 20th Anniversary of the class 1985 at SFTS.

Somewhere I have the same pose from 20 years ago - I must find it. We were thinner and had more hair!


Scott Hall

This is a watercolor by Nancy Chinn of Scott Hall pictured above.

View of Montgomery Chapel from the top of the hill.

Orange

I don't know why, but I just changed my web page and blog to Orange. What do you think?
Was blue better?

Men's Breakfast

We had a great turn out at the men's breakfast. We are studying Ps 15. The Women of Communidad Latino Americana cooked us a great mexican breakfast.

Westminster in the News!

From the Rosegarden Resident:
Westminster Church keeps its food drive going on a year-round basis
By Mary Gottschalk

Hunger isn't seasonal, which is the reason Mary Fatula and the congregation at Westminster Presbyterian Church collect food for Second Harvest Food Bank on a year-round basis.

On the first Sunday of each month, those attending services at the Shasta Avenue church are encouraged to bring food and place it on the steps in front of the Communion table.

"We try to make it such a huge pile of food that the elders can't make it up to serve Communion," Fatula jokes.

Donations have yet to prevent people from getting to Communion, but occasionally it is difficult to get to the table.

The efforts by Westminster members were recognized at a ceremony Feb. 16 where Fatula accepted Second Harvest's Community Champion Trophy for the highest total donation in the 250-and-less participants category.

The trophy, which is actually a plaque, honored the 3,496 pounds of food and $1,175 donated by Westminster members in 2004--food and money that goes to an average of 163,500 people in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties each month.

"Mary has been a champion for us getting food to Second Harvest," says Steve Norman, pastor of Westminster. "She writes up announcements every month to remind people."

Fatula's announcements go beyond simple announcements. Each month she makes a presentation, offering a theme for the month.

"I have some silly thing I say about it," she says.

For February she carried a large bowl to the Communion table and said, "When I think of Super Bowl, I think of soup."

She then asked congregants to bring cans of soup for Second Harvest in February.

In January, she suggested oatmeal and for March she says she's thinking green and asking for green vegetables in honor of St. Patrick.

Fatula doesn't want to limit donations to just one type of food, but says she finds making suggestions makes it easier for people to remember and participate.

She keeps a list of the foods most wanted and needed, which she's happy to share with anyone who asks.

At Christmas, she pretended to go through a long list of things to do and gifts to buy; then, she says, "I crumpled it up and said, 'Forget that list. I have the list of most needed foods.' "

She then urged the congregation to fill a grocery bag with items from the Second Harvest list.

Westminster's participation in the food drive is now in its fifth year, and Fatula has headed the effort from the start, watching donations rise each year.

In 2000 the congregation collected 601 pounds of food; in 2001 it was 2,811 and in 2003 it was 3,320.

Companies such as Cypress Semiconductor, Cisco Systems and Applied Materials dominate the annual recognition ceremony, although there is a category for schools and community groups.

"I look over who gets the special awards, and most times it's companies--a lot of really big companies that give huge amounts of food," Fatula says. "Most times, it was a holiday food drive. We are one of the few organizations that do it year-round, and it feels good."

When church services end, Fatula and others put the donated food into the barrels left for them by Second Harvest, which comes by once a month to pick up full barrels and leave empty ones.

Fatula says the church averages two to 21Ž2 barrels a month, but some months they collect enough to fill four barrels.

Fatula welcomes donations from the community at large and says they may be dropped off at the church during the day.

Westminster Presbyterian Church is located at 1100 Shasta Ave. at The Alameda. The church office telephone is 408.294.7447.

More about stealing garbage

I'm still concerned about my garbage being stolen. I did a google search on the subject to see if other folks have had their garbage stolen or maybe confessions of garbage stealers. I found nothing about stealing garbage. I found many comments about stealing garbage cans. It seems like there is a lot of garbage can stealing going on, but not much about stealing the garbage and leaving the can. I'm thinking about setting at trap next week to catch the garbage thief, if he/she strikes again. Possibly a rat trap on top of the garbage. Any other ideas?

Strange things...

I had a strange thing happen last night. Someone stole my garbage! I put the trash out at 9 PM and then later decided to dump the cat litter box and went out front to the garbage can and it was empty.... I checked the neighbor’s trash at 4 different homes and they had full trash cans. I’m not sure if it is the FBI, CIA, A crazy person or terrorists.

Experiencing God's call

I'm preaching this week on how we experience God's calling in our lives. How do we know when God is calling us? The Bible text is Samuel's call. He heard God's voice so clearly that he thought it was Eli, but it was God calling his name.
What would it be like to hear God's call as clear as Samuel did? I wonder why we don't hear God like that very often. In the scripture it says that, " In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions." It also says that Samuel didn't recognize the Lord's voice because " Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him."

I wonder if the reason we don't hear from God is because the word of the Lord and visions are rare in these days or because we don't know God very well and so we don't recognize his voice?

Another cartoon

Cool Cartoon

INVOCATION

Invocation in·vo·ca·tion n
1. a calling upon a greater power such as God or a spirit for help
2. a short prayer forming part of a religious service
3. the act of calling upon or quoting something such as a law as a reason or justification
4. a casting of a spell in an attempt to make an evil spirit appear, or the spell itself

At a recent church committee meeting the leader began his opening prayer, "O Lord, we call you into our presence."

It was an ordinary enough prayer and I'm sure it was well intentioned, but it struck me as very odd. Should we call God into our presence or should we be called to acknowledge that we are in the presence of God?

But what about all those scriptures about calling on the name of the Lord?

Not Too Old to Rock & Roll!

Just when I thought I was getting too old to rock and roll - my church surprised me with a 50th birthday gift: a brand new Eric Clapton Signiture model Fender Stratocaster and a Mesa Boogie amp! Was I ever surprised!!! I found out later that the youth group had cooked up this wonderful idea and had been collecting money for months with out my knowing! My what great kids we have at Westminster.... It is also the 50 year anniversary for Fender - who would have thunk!

Lily of the Valley

It has been a while since I've had the time to blog. The best thing that has happened recently is the birth of my granddaughter Lily. She is a wonderful little girl. Yesterday I was watching as Melia was working on a music project in the music room. I dozed off with Lily sleeping on my chest. She is so tiny, so precious and filled with such possibilities as her life begins. What a wonderful gift from God. Born on Thanksgiving morning. Link to more pictures- of course!


Click For more Lily Ulani Mann Pictures!

50th at CPPC

This last weekend Teri and I went to CPPC (Canoga Park Presbyterian Church) to celebrate 50 years of ministry at the church. I was a great time and we got to ee a lot of old friends. Some of us are much older friends than we used to be. I thought it was interesting to note that I am also turning 50 this year. I wish I would have taken some pictures when we were there.

Do you hear what I hear? Do you see what I see?

The first Westminster Town Hall Meeting to discuss the Vision Team Report was an important step forward in the visioning process. Yet, for the first half of the meeting, I struggled and wondered if we were communicating. I was reminded of the Christmas carol that asks the questions, "Do you hear what I hear? Do you see what I see? Do you know what I know?" It was clear in the first few minutes that the order for the meeting needed to be set aside and much more time was to be spent discussing and bringing an understanding of just what the Vision Team Report is and what the report is attempting to help us do as a congregation.

The report is not intended to be a polished document. The team decided to present the report in a way that would reflect the brainstorming process and hopefully spark open honest conversation and reflection. So it purposely contains raw and uncut statements as a way to get people to personally struggle with the questions. This was a risk and a very different way of doing things. Many terms and words are not intended to be exacting. Other approaches may have been better and easier, but I'm glad we took the risk.

While the report is not intended to be exacting, the team found it needed to develop
words and definitions that have specific meanings to communicate unique things in the life of Westminster. The terms: vision, Spanish speaking congregations, English speaking congregation, Bilingual congregation and one church are used in specific ways in the report, and understanding how these terms are used is very important to understanding the whole structure of the report. These terms are explained in the introductory pages of the report.

It is very important to understand that the report is intended to be a list of observations of the past and present. It is not intended to be a report of prescriptions and directions for the future. The team felt that a clear vision starts with discerning where we've been and where we are. We need to have a clear picture of what God is doing in the here and now before we attempt to understand God's future for us. Many churches struggle because they are either trapped in unresolved issues from the past or so concerned about the future that they miss what God is doing in the midst of the church now. The report tries hard not to make judgments about what should be. Rather, it is an attempt to observe what is now. It was hard not to offer solutions and directions and a few do slip into the report, but solutions and directions are for the next phase and the new vision team.

For now, we need to be about the hard necessary process of looking at ourselves, trying to discover and discern what God is doing in the midst of us. We need to compare notes. We need to be asking, "Do you see what I see? Do you hear what I hear? Do you know what I know?" As we find common vision; we will see what God is up to with Westminster. Another Westminster Town Hall meeting to further interact with the report is scheduled for Sunday November 7th at 4:00 - 5:30 PM. I hope you will be there. The meeting will be in English only and childcare will be provided.

Vision Report Town Hall Meeting

The Vision Team has finished their report,but that means that the Westminster Transformation Project is just getting started. 

The Vision Team met from December 2003 to July 2004 to seek a vision from God for Westminster. 

The team defined "vision" as an understanding of what God has been doing, is doing and will be doing.  They prayed and shared openly with each other the things that came to the their hearts and minds as the team discussed various aspects of life and ministry at Westminster.

The result is a series of lists of concerns, grouped around four dynamic of the transforming church.  They asked hard questions such as: What is working? What is not working? What should we stop doing? What should we start doing?

Sunday October 24 at 4 PM, the report will be presented in English at a church town hall meeting. The next Sunday the report will be presented in Spanish. At these meetings we will discover which parts of the report the church relates to or bears witness to as being on target.  From there the session will develop an intentional plan for change and growth.
Get a report here

Yes

A picture from my fishing trip with Melia and Micah this fall.

Web site is back

Wow - my web site is back - Now I can stop worrying about it and do some blogging.

Revnorman

My web site still isn't working!Revnorman

my web site is missing!!!!!!

Somehow Yahoo turned off my web site and all my pictures have disappeared! I'm trying to get it back up soon. Hopefully they will answer me and we can work this out. O the joys of technology.

Back Yard

Sitting in the back yard
Watching the sprinklers water the lawn
Sounds like a water fall
Clouds are gray
Air is cool and damp
Hot coffee from a barista coffee maker
Good dark roast coffee with cream
A dog barks in the neighbors yard

Randy Played My Guitar

Randy Stonehill played during our worship service at WPC last week. It was great to have him there! He played some great songs. All our teenagers sat in the front row. Sorry to say Randy's guitar was damaged on his plane flight. But the cool result was that he borrowed my guitar both that morning and for another concert that evening. I thought about having him scratch his initials on the back of my Taylor guitar, but later had second thoughts. He is still writing some great songs. Rock on Randy!