Fall Approaching... another year closing... a new chapter about to begin... planning in advance a good thing?

Well today in Charleston the weather is great so far! Cool, no humidity, and sunny. A great day for golf I must say, but I am sitting in the coffee shop at CSU waiting for my next class. 

I do not know many people who have started and ended so many journeys at once, like i am in the middle of.  As I shared in the previous blog, back in January of this year, I started my first position as a full-time minister.... journey #1 beginning. I got engaged almost 10 months ago and I am getting married in April of 09, journey #2... I am graduating from CSU in about 2 months... ending journey #1. Karey and I bought a house this year... so now we have bills and bills and bills to pay.. beginning of journey #3. (and for clarification, Karey lives in the house alone... i still live with my gma).

The sole purpose of this blog is to talk about life. Life is a fun event that we all are privileged to share in. Life comes in different forms and figures.  I sometimes wonder what will come in the future... but that is in vein. Christ tells us to not worry about the things of tomorrow, but to strive for things of Today (please know that is a paraphrase). When it comes to ministry... that is just what has to happen... but yet it is hard.  

I was taught in my education that we are to plan at least a year in advance if not 18 months. First off... that is hard. I came into my first ministry position with all barrels loaded. I had a yearly plan laid out... knew what I need to spend where... and new what God was wanting to get going... let me just say... I did half of what I planned so far and the year is about over. 

One major component to planning is your church culture. Where I attend church and minister... the culture is different then what I am used to... but it is a good different... I like it a alot.  This  is ok, and honestly makes it easy to focus energy. I tried to start things as soon as I entered the field... (almost like a back up pitcher coming into pitch without warming up)  Then I realized something... what good is this.  So I decided to change directions.... hence my title "Minister to Family and Children." 

My title when I got to Trinity was "Director of Christian Faith Formation." I was not sure what this meant, and most people did not, so with intentionality, we changed my title to Minister to Family and Children and now there is more of a focus of 'Family-Driven Faith" (GREAT book by Voddie Baucham). 

Now that I am finally grasping my reason to be at Trinity, and this is to ignite outreach and discipleship throughout the church and throughout families, things come together a lot easier.

What does this rambling mean to you, the reader? If we tend to focus to much on planning the future, before we get to the present... we will be standing there only doing half the things we planned within a year. I am beginning to work on next years layout... and now with a grip on the culture... a taste of full time ministry... and a God given vision for our church... I know how to act of the future with a great understanding of the present.

Random thought.... I am worried about the ants crawling on the bar in the coffee shop... hmmmm... this is disturbing...

Father, may we look to you for the things of the present and place within you the events of the future... may your light shine in a direction full of grace, strength, and certainty. All honor and glory be upon you this day and every day and we pray these things in your name. Amen.

God's peace be with you all!!

New to this world

I am new to the blogging world, but as I have been reading different articles, this seems to be the big thing to do within ministry today. I must be upfront with you, my grammar is not the best and I will not have someone to proofread this thing... so please forgive me in advance.

I plan to post different thoughts and ministerial activities within this blog. I am going to talk about my ministry beginnings, lessons, failures, and celebrations. First, let me give you some background on who I am.

My name is Phillip and I am the Minister to Family and Children at Trinity Episcopal church.  I am set to graduate from Charleston Southern in December with a Bachelor of Arts in Youth Ministry. I am engaged to a beautiful woman of God and her name is Karey. We are set to be married April 18, 2009 and let me tell you... I CANT WAIT! 

I started at Trinity in January of this year, so i am about to begin my 1oth month within my first ministry position tomorrow. This first 9 months has been great! I have learned a lot, celebrated a lot, and well just enjoyed every bit of it. I have had my ups and downs, my conflicts and battles, but that comes with the job, but God shows Himself in every situation and always brings me through to the other side. 

I am new to the Episcopal denomination. I grew up Southern Baptist and never thought that I would be where I am today, episcopal. Shows that our plans do not matter to God. 

I must say that I am more of fire for God than I have been in a while. The Episcopal denomination has forced me out of my comfort zone to learn something new.  That something new centers around the words "liturgical worship." I have had to begin to grasp this idea of liturgy, but it has been great and rewarding! I have to gain my liturgical calendar and get used to the celebration of more things within the church year, such as lent, advent, pentecost, etc. I have had to get a grasp on the Book of Common Prayer (the book that we use within the service) and learn how to navigate the different aspects. 

I must say that the thought of taking communion every Sunday was a bit "intimidating" to me. I must say that it has brought me closer to God more and more. I find myself drawing close to him throughout the service and then coming to his table for a feast of his spirit and love. There are people who do this to get the ticket punched and as the routine and one has to be careful in how they approach the alter of God in just a rut of routine. I do my best to go into the service expecting something new from God, and He always shows Himself in a new way. 

Overall, the Episcopal church has been a great transition from me. I feel that I have made my way in and learned things. I still have a lot to learn, but that comes with anything in life. I am excited about what God is doing in Karey and I, within me, and within Trinity. 

There will be more to come! This is just to get going. I will share next time more about the ministry and the ups and downs!

God's Peace to you all!