Monday, August 15, 2011

A Volley from the Canon, Number 114, Reading Camps

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 114:

READING CAMPS—A JUBILEE MINISTRY IDEA!

The idea comes from the Diocese of Lexington, but it is being implemented in both Ohio dioceses and elsewhere. The isolated and impoverished areas of rural Appalachia have chronic problems with poor reading progress. Children clearly need more help than the school term can provide. So the church is offering reading camps for children at risk of falling behind. Lexington offers one-week camps at its Cathedral Close camp facility at Irvine, KY. There are also some parish-sponsored day camps, providing an alternative plan.

Reading camps are for children entering grades two to four. They are identified as slow readers by their schools. The children are invited to apply to the Reading Camps, and the camps are free, sponsored by churches. Trained volunteers run the program.

A typical day of Reading Camp would involve morning reading tutoring for three hours, with the children rotating through six learning stations, each featuring a different aspect of reading instruction. And they love it, typically having no idea they are being taught!

After lunch, the focus shifts to other life skills, one of which is swimming instruction: a high proportion of rural mountain children do not know how to swim, and are therefore vulnerable to drowning accidents. Additionally, they get lots of TLC and encouragement, which can be just as important as any of the instruction. A high staff-to-pupil ratio is required.

This is what Sunday School started out to be: extra attention to reading instruction for poorer children who suffered from lack or inadequacy of public schooling! If your congregation, ministry group, or deanery is looking for a cooperative ministry venture, consider Reading Camp. Now would be the time to begin planning for a start-up next summer.

A Volley from the Canon, Number 113, Hospice and Nursery

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 113

PARALLEL DEVELOPMENT: HOSPICE AND NURSERY

We Episcopalians should be good at handling generational shifts by now. We’ve had considerable experience, most of it negative, and now we get to find out whether we’ve learned anything or not.

We had a doozy back when I was the young generation. At that time, there was a vast chasm between my generation and that of our parents. We seemed to have nothing in common and talked right past one another, with little comprehension. We had huge altercations over tiny matters, which seemed of critical importance to both sides. In the Church, a “little” thing like revising the Book of Common Prayer, long overdue, split us right down the middle, and generationally. The only way bishops found to get the “new” BCP into pews in most churches was to require it, forcibly. Yet in so doing, we sacrificed a very large chunk of our membership, a great loss to all. It became as if the 1928 BCP was somehow bad, a harmful thing to be rid of a quickly and thoroughly as possible. In fact, though it needed revision and updating, that book and others very like it had inspired and sustained our church for generations past.

So now I’m the old guy. I have a modicum of sympathy now with my parents, but do I want to cling as desperately, arbitrarily, and belligerently to my ways of doing things, to the exclusion and rejection of the young people? Conversely, to make a fulfilling place in the church for young adults and their peers, do we need to alienate and run out all of the people my age and older? My hope is that this time, we can try harder to minister to both.

Oldsters, hang it up! We have to allow change in our church’s ways, if we are going to survive as a church past our own funerals. We aren’t going to comprehend or appreciate all of these changes, but neither did our parents respond favorably to ours. It is part of the natural order.

Youngsters, have patience with us relics. You need us, too, while we last. Create a space in church life for your tastes and interests, and leave us a space for ours, too. We need to find a way to be church together, even if we do it separately for a time.

As a church, we are going to have to multi-task for a decade or so. We are going to have to be “nursery” for The Episcopal Church 7.3, or whatever, that is a-borning, and put aside our anxiety long enough to let it become whatever it is to be. This calls for faith on our part, that God is indeed in charge, not us, and that God will abide with her church. At the same time, we are also going to have to be “hospice” for the old church that is passing away. We must provide a place of solace, peace, and comfort for those of us whose sensibilities are of an earlier time that is fading, but not yet past.

It is complicated, but much better than the alternatives before us. In the end, the gyres of the generations will turn, with us or without us. The ways of neither group are bad or objectionable, really. They are just different.

A Volley from the Canon, Number 112, Story Corps

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 112:

MAKE YOUR OWN ‘STORY CORPS’

You’re probably familiar with “Story Corps,” an initiative of the Library of Congress, best-known through the broadcasts of National Public Radio. The Library of Congress is recording and preserving the life stories, some episodes, anyway, of ordinary Americans. If you’ve heard the NPR broadcasts, you know that some of the segments are far from ordinary.

People in our congregations have extraordinary tales to tell, too. Some may be things they’ve never shared with anyone at all before, but that they’d like to leave with family members or friends, if they have the chance. So why not create your own parish “Story Corps” service—not necessarily for public consumption, but for private record. This activity can be a particularly effective ministry to persons in a hospice situation, whether in a designated hospice facility or not.

Just get a simple (i. e., easy for YOU to use) tape recorder with a URL port, so that the recording can be downloaded. Ask the person if they would like to be interviewed, and with whom they would like the story shared (that can wait until after they see what comes out, if need be). Have your questions ready (sample ones are on the “Story Corps” website at http://storycorps.org/record-your-story/¬). Turn on the machine, ask a question, and enjoy.

If you like, and the interviewee agrees, you can make a video, and if they consent (a waiver is necessary), you can post it on YouTube. More likely, you’ll be producing a flash drive or CD for family members. Be sure to honor the instructions of the interviewee about sharing.

Through deliberate story-listening, pastors can be attentive to a church member at a very significant time, perform their pastoral ministry, and hear some great stories, all at once.

A Volley from the Canon, Number 111, Walking to Jerusalem

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 111

“WALKING TO JERUSALEM”

Here’s an idea that can help church members with their fitness goals, provide them some time for prayer and reflection, or for companionship, and build community spirit at the same time. As a congregation, “Walk to Jerusalem” (or someplace of your choosing.)

1) Find out how far is it to your destination, and have someone make a map showing the route as a mileage chart. Hang that in a convenient and visible place.

2) Invite members of the congregation (and non-members, too!) to sign up as walkers and keep a log of their own walking distances day by day. Members may walk whenever, wherever, and with whomever, they like. If they run, fine! This is about distance, not speed.

3) Every week receive reports from the walkers of miles walked during the week.

4) Mark on the map your group’s progress for all to see.

5) Set a goal for “reaching Jerusalem,” and plan a celebration for when you “arrive.”

6) Consider some Christian Formation possibilities along the way, about the Holy City, its sites and events, and the concept of pilgrimage in the Christian context.

7) Celebrate!

If you have a small group, maybe a walk to some other, closer holy place (like Peterkin, or Washington Cathedral) would be more appropriate. Either way, your congregation’s walking pilgrimage may be a significant event for your congregation, and it certainly will be significant for the health and fitness of members.

A Volley from the Canon, Number 110 Buy Local

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 110

HELP WITH BUYING LOCAL

Many of us are striving to buy more local produce, thereby supporting our neighbors, getting the freshest products, and saving all that jet fuel from ferrying vegetables and such across the globe. If you have such an interest, check out

http://www.localharvest.org/

Put your own zip-code into the search and find out what farms are listed for your area, and what produce they are offering.

Of course, the many local farmers’ markets are active this time of year, too.

Bon appétit!