Sadly, at this point my default assumption is that whatever new initiative/program/gimmick that the national church or diocese is promoting is going to actively make things worse/more difficult.
I admittedly haven’t played around with the new version (other than setting up my passkey), but the OTM Profile was also horrendous.
We have to brand everything as something “nimble” that is helping us become “the church of the future.”
Because we like to pretend to be forward-thinking rather than reactive as a denomination? The code on the old system was literally falling apart from what I understand, but we can’t be honest and say this is a technical solution to a technical problem.
My current call was never publicly advertised. I got into the process because I heard the parish was receiving names, and I called our canon for transitions and told him I wanted to apply.
Who knows how Vocation Hub will be used, but I’ve never found a job through the OTM Profile. I had to submit the pdf printout as part of applications, but no one found me through the electronic system. Everything came through networking with canons for transitions/rectors.
“The Dark One and all of the Forsaken are bound in Shayol Ghul, beyond the Great Blight, bound by the Creator at the moment of Creation, bound until the end of time.”
I was DIV ‘12 and the professional school LGBTQ groups used to have regular mixers. Starting in fall 2010, he was a topic of complaint any time the Out Laws showed up.
Honestly, I think this is a much more compelling example of the bound will…
This is all over Tolkien, too, especially in the Silmarillion. The heroes are sometimes tragic, but the villains are caricatures driven by envy, spite, and fear.
This makes me think of Napoleon in _The Great Divorce_. One thing I think Lewis gets right is that evil is only attractive in the most superficial sense, likely from his experience living through two World Wars.
Just remember: Vance is the Yale Law student other Yale Law students complained about. The number of times I listened to rants about “that JD guy” was not negligible.
The best preaching advice for me came from Craddock’s _Preaching_. He encourages preachers to pray about what individuals need to hear during sermon prep. So not “What does St. Swithin’s need to hear?” but “What does Mary need to hear?” or “What does John need to hear?”
Four Pages is so good.
I’d also recommend Fred Craddock’s _As One without Authority_ and Eugene Lowry’s _The Homiletical Plot._
It’s also helpful to read and listen to sermons.
The first step in applying for anything other than an associate position here is being reviewed by the bishop’s office. You can’t be reviewed with an incomplete application. I have no clue if anyone reads the OTM, but they make you hand it in.
All the rector/priest-in-charge positions in Maryland require submitting an OTM profile.
Not that I have any desire to search any time soon, but none of the changes I made for my last search (2024) were ported over in the update, even though they were supposed to be…
I never choose the Acts reading on Easter Day because this is also my least favorite part of Eastertide.
We now use Taste of Texas coffee for coffee hour. I will never accomplish anything more significant as rector. (We also have one of the few Shipley’s Do-Nuts franchises in MD down the road from us, so things can get very Texan very quickly.)
I mean, HEB is legendary for their emergency response. At the very least, they would manage FEMA incredibly competently.
The only thing is that everyone has to have the same type of Google account, because Classroom is gated specifically to personal, business (including the free non-profit version), and education accounts. I learned this the hard way the day before a CPE unit started…
I use Google Classroom (which is free) to do asynchronous didactics for extended CPE units, and I think that could provide a reasonable model for what you’re talking about.
At all. I’m of the opinion the canons are worse than useless here.
I do now! I can’t unhear it! 😂
I got Martin Luther. 😃
I once traumatized a parish administrator by showing her this.
Meeting people where they are is only a starting point, and we too often forget that!
Impossible meat is now cheaper by the pound than ground beef here!
This tracks.
I’m using the study guide as a stand-alone adult confirmation curriculum, and it’s working incredibly well. I’ve skipped some chapters and combined others. The two chapters on baptism/Eucharist can easily be combined.
One day, someone will finally let me use Godspell as liturgical music. 🤞🏼