I sit here typing to you from my couch. I'm still wearing what I wore to bed last night, and haven't yet taken a shower. So far, it's been an exceptionally wonderful down day. Unfortunately, this is the first time it's happened in what seems like months, and I'm not alone. Leslie, Mike, Jack, Matt and I seem to be heading in a thousand different directions in our lives, and scheduling a time to get together (via conference call) and put some more life into the Church is Alive proved to be difficult.
But we finally did it. In fact, we even had a follow-up brainstorming session a week later. Considering our individually hectic lives, I personally consider it a notable accomplishment. We are aware, however, of our on-again, off-again relationship with you. Sometimes it seems we're in your inbox every day, other times it seems like weeks since you've heard a peep from the Church is Alive. Please know that we're aware, and that we plan on doing something about it.
We're growing. At least, we're in the initial stages of growing. In addition to accepting submissions (we'll always do that!), we plan on having a group of 8-18 regular contributors, each posting every few months or so. This should keep things fresh and exciting, as well as holding to our roots as a user-generated content platform (buzzwords!).
So, what do you think? Could this evolving concept of the Church is Alive fly? Are you itching to to be a regular contributor? We don't wanna be falling off the face of the earth anymore.
I can't help but share in the excitement. The Church is Alive Water Project has met it's goal. Seriously. As of Thursday night, and because of the incomprehensible generosity of this community, you've raised over five thousand dollars to change the the lives of those in a community in need. On behalf of the Church is Alive, thank you.
A few weekends ago, I visited my brother in Nashville, Tennessee. We had a great time seeing the sights, going out on the town, and catching up with some old and new friends. The very next weekend, Nashville and the surrounding area saw over a foot of rainfall in a two-day period. The Cumberland river, which flows through downtown Nashville, crested at nearly 52 feet. The damage done has been horrific, and our hearts go out to those who lost cars, homes, and loved ones. The flooding also put one of the city's water treatment plants out of service, prompting a water conservation effort to ensure that all have access to clean water.
Nashville is at risk of not having enough clean water to go around. The same weekend, Boston had a similar misfortune. The water crisis doesn't have to be in a third-world country. The water crisis affects all of humanity.
Water is a necessity of life. One to be respected, both for it's destructive potential and our dependence on it to sustain life. You. Us. We. We're sustaining life. We're now making it possible for a community in need to have access to clean water. Pause and think about that, and perhaps offer a prayer to those to whom water now represents grief and loss.
Pro tip: listen to this song while you read this post.
Some people decide to change the world after they have the financial means to do so. Others figure out a way to do it to raise money to change the world. Take 23-year-old Katie Spotz from Cleveland, Ohio, last month, she became the youngest person ever to row across the Atlantic Ocean. She rowed a boat. Across the Atlantic Ocean. Know why she did it? To raise awareness of, you guessed it, the need for clean drinking water.
Well crap. That hits home. I'm 23, and I don't think I could muster the passion, dedication, or pure physical endurance to row across an ocean. Katie's story is pretty incredible, you should check it out on rowforwater.com, Facebook, and Twitter.
People can do amazing things when they believe in something.
I don't subscribe to cable television, so I don't watch a whole lot of television. It isn't much of a surprise, then, that I totally missed out on an MTV documentary that aired last week called "Summit on the Summit." The premise? Kenna (actually a pretty great musician) and some famous friends of his, climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise awareness of the global clean water crisis. Check out the trailer below:
Guess what? We're not the only ones concerned about the clean water crisis. This is a global movement. A movement of compassion toward those with less. A movement to makes the lives of people better. Guess what else? We've already made a tangible impact. With the donations received so far, Charity:Water will be able to provide clean, safe drinking water to 90 people for years to come. Think about that.
We've put our thoughts, prayers, energy, and passion for providing life-giving water to yield a tangible result. Where would we be if everyone did that?
"If you are going to ask yourself life-changing questions, be sure to do something with the answers." - Bo Bennett
For four months out of the year, I have the opportunity to attend church six days a week, take communion every Sunday and Thursday, and meet some of the most inspiring ministers in the PC(USA). I work year-round at Montreat Conference Center (come say hello!), and some really cool stuff happens here.
A few times per year, the Assembly Inn invites the public to a free pancake breakfast. It's a great opportunity to connect with members of the local community, and donations support a great cause: the Employee Assistance Fund, which provides financial support to members of our staff in financial or medical crisis. This past Thursday, the staff of Montreat Conference Center decided to take contributions for the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance effort in Haiti instead of the EAF.
I thought it was a wonderful gesture of missional outreach. I mean, we're usually the ones asking for money.
Mission. Always one of my favorite things done at my home church growing up. The opportunity to support those with less, often finding they were able to give back with glowing personalities, wonderful stories, and heartfelt thanks. It's a two-way street, and you often get more out of it than you were expecting. To me, it's soul satisfaction.
So I humbly encourage you to discover what kinds of mission opportunities there are in your community, your country, and the world, faith-based or not. We might be able to help you with that last one pretty soon... In the words of the rapper MURS,
"If you leave the world a better place than it was when you got here,
then we all win"
[end note] I totally credit my good friend Jack Jenkins with introducing me to MURS. It's also his birthday today, so if you're his Facebook friend, you should totally utilize that poke feature all day long. (He's the first search result for "Jack Jenkins")
I was a curious kid. I'd ask my parents all sorts of random questions that would float into my head: Why is the sky blue? How do birds fly? Who gets to make up words? Why does coffee smell good and taste bad? The answer my parents provided to that last question never satisfied me... "Well, I don't think it tastes bad honey." I promptly filed it away next to vanilla extract in my brain.
But like many college freshmen, I came to know and love coffee quite well. It was able to provide a few extra hours of "studying" and even if I only thought the taste was tolerable, it got the job done.
Fast forward to today (it's only like, five years), and I've become something of a coffee/tea junkie. I make it every morning, have it at work, and sometimes get carried away with how much I drink (this is known as "Jittery Josh"). I recently watched the documentary "Black Gold" which looks at the coffee industry, and specifically, how little coffee farmers are being paid for their commodity.
Enter the Presbyterian Coffee Project, which works with Equal Exchange to provide an easy, convenient way to get fair trade coffee into churches. Purchasing fairly traded coffee supports farmers all over the globe by allowing them to sell coffee beans at a fair price, giving them the ability to pay their workers fair wages and grow the local infrastructure. Rather than relying on charity and foreign aide, these communities are able to create a robust, sustainable economy. Learn more about fair trade practices here.
The Church is Alive. I'm encouraged by how in touch the PC(USA) seems to be with many of the larger social issues in the world today. The Presbyterian Coffee Project. Who'd have thought? I encourage everyone to make the effort to purchase fair trade coffee (and tea, sugar, chocolate, and nuts) at home and in their Church. It's not too expensive, and you'll know you're supporting a sustainable environment in a place that needs it most.
PS: Vanilla extract is not good by itself.
[Update] There has been some discussion concerning fair-trade coffee through the Presbyterian Coffee Project and through Starbucks.Starbucks has been selling fair-trade coffee products for a few years, and are to be commended for it. Equal Exchange offers great prices through the Presbyterian Coffee Project: Less than six bucks/bag when purchased in a case of six!
That title is a little more positive than I felt this morning, when I realized that the Church is Alive website was broken in Chrome and Safari. The method I was using to mask the blog was broken by an update to web kit (I think), so for the time being we'll be on blogspot. Don't cha worry though, you can still send your friends to thechurchisalive.com! Sorry about the mess!
Grace and Peace - Josh.
[UPDATE 11/21/09] Everything should be A-OK now, including any image caching issues you might have had. Things still look wonky or did you find something I missed? Shoot me an email: joshutk(at)gmail.com
"What if...?" is one of my favorite questions, it really allows you to move into the wonderful land of the hypothetical and daydream a little bit. So I was intrigued by a video from the PC(USA) that popped up on YouTube last week and made its way around the offices of Montreat Conference Center, where I work...
The video poses some great questions, and I think we're best served by taking this to the comments.What do you think about the PC(USA) office teaming up with institutions like Montreat to offer special programs? Are camps and conference centers connected to the denomination at large as closely as they should be? What would you like to see camps and conference centers do more of? Less of? Start doing?
For the record, one of my favorite answers is "Why not?"
God saw all that God had made, and behold, it was very good.
My front porch offers quite a view. I live on the side of a mountain, and looking out offers a great view of brightly colored tree tops (I love fall) and various mountaintops that surround Montreat, North Carolina. This valley is beloved by many Presbyterians for its beauty and tranquility, the intangibility of “getting away from it all” presents itself clearly here. In the US, we’re fortunate to have places for solace and sabbath close at hand, but that proximity also blinds us to the fact that our consumption is killing us.
The Church is Alive is a group of passionate bloggers and videographers dedicated to showcasing and exploring the Christian church as it is today - join the community! Find out more >>> Twitter | Facebook
