Reflections of a Running Reverend

I have been in Western Jurisdictional meetings here in Portland, Oregon since Friday last week. It's been a long weekend of meetings. Fruitful and productive, of course. But long. We ended yesterday (Monday) late afternoon and I found myself with a lot of free time before my flight late this afternoon. Here's how I filled it: I slept-in a little, got caught-up with emails, made necessary phone calls and... went for a long run! There's nothing like a nice, long run to decompress after a long weekend of meetings. And it did just that- it helped me decompress. Runs always have that effect on me. That's one of the reasons why I run. It clears my head. It allows me to organize random thoughts. It helps me crystallize ideas. It helps me reflect. And that's why I am cranky on days when I don't get a run in. On today's run, I followed a trail that was parallel to the Willamette River on my right and the Portland International Airport on my left. Mid-run, I f

Photo credit: Rev. Jim Doepken I have been asked by many to reprise my first Superintendent's address in my blog so they can review and share it in their local churches. I will do that. In fact my plan is to dedicate a blog post for each of the six points I focused on. But that series will have to wait until  I get back from vacation in August. For now, let me give you an abridged version for you to start reflecting on. In my address I shared six areas I am really passionate about in my ministry with you as your Superintendent. These were born out of a year of "walking" the conference; a year of listening to your stories, dreams and visions; a year of getting to know each church, each context and each ministry setting. I purposefully resisted casting a vision for leadership until I had gotten to know the conference a little bit deeper. These six areas come out of our shared dreams and visions. They are areas I will hold myself accountable to you, you to me and us to

I ran a marathon here in Anchorage a couple of weeks ago. In the two weeks that followed the race, I have only ran a total of seven miles. I've given my body time to rest and recover. Today, I plan to lace up my shoes and hit the trails once again. My next race is in less than 6 weeks and I have to train. But I surely enjoyed the time-in-between. Now I feel that both my body and my mind are ready to run again! Summers are typically times-in-between in the lives of churches. This is a time when things slow down; when Sunday schools and choirs take a break; when worship services are combined; when meetings are more spaced-out. And while one may argue that ministry and mission doesn't really stop, that the need is always there and that summers present rich and unique opportunities to reach out to our communities (i.e. VBS, Summer Camp etc.), the reality is that everyone, church people included, need times-in-between to rest and renew. The work of ministry doesn't stop