TruthBook Religious News Blog

By Mary Frances Schjonberg, November 24, 2008
[Episcopal News Service] All ordained women in the Episcopal Church -- and 1,500 male clergy -- are beginning to receive invitations to participate in what is one of the comprehensive studies of female clergy by any denomination in recent years.

Every ordained woman -- deacon, priest, and bishop -- will be asked about her aspirations, needs, and experience of how ministry is lived out through her life. The Called to Serve survey is unprecedented in the Episcopal Church for its attempt to obtain responses from those in both paid and unpaid ministry, those actively engaged in ministry, those who are taking time out, and who are retired. It also seeks the input of young new clergy, second-career clergy, those ministering in two-career families, and those ministering as single parents or caregivers.

Inclusion of both women and active and retired men is meant to give comparative data on careers, and men's needs for family leave as well as retirement. It is also meant to help the church understand the way the call to ministry is being lived out in 2008.

The survey is "the first to include and hear the voices of those in non-institutional and non-traditional ministries" in the same survey as those serving in traditional ministries, according to the Rev. Paula Nesbitt, one of two research consultants working on the project.

Nesbitt said her conversations with research colleagues show that the scope of the Called to Serve project is also unprecedented among denominations.

Researchers want to learn about how ordained women and men have ministered in the past, what they think their ministry might be like in the future, and what constraints on their choices they experience, he said.

The survey will consist of a combination of check-the-appropriate-box questions and questions for which people can write fuller answers. The two types of questions are meant to give a more complete picture of ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church, Price said.

There also will be opportunities to volunteer for a confidential research interview.

Coming as it will during Advent, Price said he hopes clergy will consider the survey as a chance to reflect on their vocation, and take the opportunity to share part of that reflection with those who will be influencing ministry policies and ordination preparation in the church. The study is expected to help the church analyze, improve and sustain ordained ministry as a vocation.

Called to Serve is the third survey of Episcopal Church employees that has been conducted during the 2007-2009 triennium. An earlier survey considered lay employee demographics, the exercise of authority in the employment setting, and compensation and benefits. The second survey studied the way the church provides health care coverage to its employees and the feasibility of changing current structures.

A letter was recently sent to the Episcopal Church's 4,026 ordained women and 1,500 ordained men. The letter says participants will soon receive an email with a link to the online version of the survey. Participants can request a paper copy of the questionnaire. All responses will be anonymous and confidential.

Women clergy who do not receive the letter by December 1 or the e-mail invitation by December 8 should request a link or paper copy by contacting CalledToServe@cpg.org or calling Andrea Van Zile at the Church Pension Group (800-223-6602 x9474). If people think the Church Pension Group may not have their correct mailing or email address, they can also contact customer service at 800-223-6602 to update that information.

Labels: Called to Serve, clergy, Mary Frances Schjonberg, ministry, vocation, women

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Monday, March 10, 2008

Woman to woman

March 8, 2008

A mentoring minisry

By Ann Greenleaf Wirtz
Special to the Times-News

"As young moms we admired the mature spirituality we saw in the older women, especially since many of us were in those early seasons of motherhood, with all the challenges of parenting coupled with taking care of our husbands," Reid said.

"We wanted an experienced, Godly perspective on how they had raised their children to adulthood and survived," Reid smiles. "They had wisdom to share and it was encouraging to hear their stories.

"It was 2003, and Betty Brown had the vision to begin a mentoring ministry. She has since moved, but she left behind the program she started from a ladies' tea and a survey to determine interest. We ended up with enough older and younger women to do a test run," Reid explains.

The test run has turned into a continuous, five-year blessing for all who've participated in the ministry. The model is designed for a mentor and mentee to share concerns, Biblical counsel, prayers and fun throughout a six-month commitment.

Many needs met

Lisa Nelsen, who recently became a mentee, confirms the needs this ministry meets. "My mother lives in California, and my husband has to travel some with his work. We have a son who's 4 and an adopted 2-year old daughter from Guatemala. I have a wonderful family, but I felt the Lord pushing me to become involved because I was feeling alone at times and very busy with the children and needed someone close-by to talk to."

When the decision is made to participate in this ministry, a profile card is completed. Information about hobbies, interests, and essential beliefs are listed, as well as the desire to be either a mentor, a mentee, either, or both.

Martha Roach, who heads the prayer warriors, describes the matching process. "We cover the entire ministry in prayer, from beginning to end. Once we have the profile cards, we sit down and pray for the Lord's guidance in matching mentors with mentees and the prayer warrior who will be assigned to them. We believe if the Lord doesn't build the house, it doesn't stand. We are sensitive to his leading, his nudging, and we give him all the credit for the success of the matches."

Relationships continue

"Sometimes, however, the mentoring situation doesn't seem to work out," Funk says, "for whatever reason. More often though, the mentors and mentees want to continue their relationship beyond the 6 months because their interactions have been so beneficial."

"I've definitely been given a God-match," Nelsen says, "because my mentor, Penny (Oesterling), has been in similar situations, and her advice and spiritual beliefs have been such a help. I want to be where she is. I've started reading the Bible more to gain that close relationship with the Lord that shines in Penny.

Penny Oesterling began a mentoring ministry at her church in Rochester, N.Y., and after moving to Hendersonville several years ago, has continued her commitment to helping younger women by joining the mentoring program at First Baptist. "The Lord instilled this desire because of an experience I had with a friend who was 12 years older. While that's not a lot of difference, she shared parenting advice; helpful because I didn't have any relatives living nearby.

"We became close, even as couples," Oesterling said. "They mentored the Christian life to my husband and me. My friend never realized the extent of her impact until years later when I started the mentoring ministry, inspired by our relationship.

"We're always influencing others, either positively or negatively," Oesterling says. "It's important we train women to love God, to help them understand how to love their husbands and children."

Woman to Woman Mentoring at First Baptist is called "A Titus 2 Ministry," based on Titus 2:3-5, "Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."

On her profile card, Oesterling wrote that she wanted a mentoring relationship "led by the Lord in which he can use me to be a Titus 2 woman." He has done that through her relationship with Lisa.

Labels: Ann Greenleaf Wirtz, mentoring, ministry, women

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Saturday, October 20, 2007

Internet churches and religious webcasts drawing more congregants

By Scott Andron
McClatchy Newspapers

Article Last Updated: 10/19/2007

MIAMI — Every Sunday morning, while hundreds of congregants converge on Flamingo Road Church in Cooper City, Fla., Stephanie Smith boots up her computer and joins the services — from 1,400 miles away.

Instead of attending a bricks-and-mortar church near her home in Fort Worth, Texas, Smith hooks her computer up to her big-screen TV and watches a live, Web-based videocast via Flamingo Road's "Internet Campus." Some Sundays, she invites family and friends to join her.

Smith is one of a growing number of Americans for whom the Internet plays a central role in their spiritual lives.

Among evangelical Christians, and the largest "megachurches" in particular, many pastors are taking their Web sites far beyond an online ad with a schedule of real-world services.

Many pastors are coming to see the Web site as a ministry in itself, not only as a way to bring people to church, but as a way to bring them to God — even if they never set foot in the physical building.

While most houses of worship now have Web sites, few use them as aggressively and creatively in seeking new converts as evangelicals, for a variety of reasons.

For Roman Catholics, important sacraments like communion are hard or impossible to translate into binary digits. Jews generally don't seek new converts, although the Orthodox Chabad Lubavitch sect, for example, has extensive Web offerings aimed at attracting non-observant Jews.

But "conservative Christians jump on any new medium they can to find new ways to spread the Gospel," said Scott Thumma, a professor of the sociology of religion at the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut.

And megachurches "are doing the most fascinating and interesting stuff on the Web, but they are doing it because they have millions of dollars and thousands of people to draw on."

Like many Web sites run by large evangelical churches, Calvary's includes a step-by-step guide for nonreligious people seeking to convert, links to request "prayer support" for people going through a difficult time, and a searchable video archive of Pastor Bob Coy's previous sermons.

Looking for advice on your marriage? Sex? Forgiveness? Just type in the word, and a list of relevant sermons will appear. Want his advice every day? Subscribe to his podcast and listen on your MP3 audio player. Want to get saved right there in front of the computer? Pastor Bob will pray with you on a recorded video.

For at least one church, the Internet is so central that the church has a "dot" in its name. Lifechurch.tv has 11 campuses in six states, including a new congregation that meets at Palm Beach Central High School in Wellington, Fla. Its 12th campus is on the Internet, and the church tries to give online participants the same experience as those worshiping in person.

All the campuses receive a live sermon via satellite from the main campus in Oklahoma. Before and after the sermon, a local minister is on hand to lead services, announce upcoming events and pass the offering plate.

Internet participants — 700 to 900 on a typical weekend — can join in by clicking an icon to raise their hands in response to the pastor's words.

And after the formal service, they can chat — either by typing or using a webcam and microphone — with the pastor or each other.

Several other churches, including Flamingo Road and Calvary, also offer ways for online participants to interact during services.

Thanks to online shopping, online dating, online social networking and online darn-near-everything-else, many young Americans don't distinguish between their friends from school and those from Facebook.

These youngsters just see them all as friends, said David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, a consulting firm that conducts survey research for churches and other religious groups.

In fact, Kinnaman's firm predicts that by 2010, 10 percent of Americans will rely exclusively on the Internet for their religious experience.

Labels: church, evangelicals, interactive, Internet, ministry, Scott Andron, spirituality

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Sunday, September 16, 2007

Religion 2.0: Can't make it to church? You can tap into your spiritual side online

Posted on Sat, Sep. 15, 2007
BY SCOTT ANDRON
sandron@MiamiHerald.com

Every Sunday morning, while hundreds of South Floridians converge on Flamingo Road Church in Cooper City, Stephanie Smith boots up her computer and joins the services -- from 1,400 miles away.

Instead of attending a bricks-and-mortar church near her home in Fort Worth, Texas, Smith hooks her computer up to her big-screen TV and watches a live, web-based videocast via Flamingo Road's ''Internet Campus.'' Some Sundays, she invites family and friends to join her.

Smith is one of a growing number of Americans for whom the Internet plays a central role in their spiritual lives.

Many pastors are coming to see the website as a ministry in itself, not only as a way to bring people to church, but as a way to bring them to God -- even if they never set foot in the physical building.

While most houses of worship now have websites, few use them as aggressively and creatively in seeking new converts as evangelicals, for a variety of reasons.

For Roman Catholics, important sacraments like communion are hard or impossible to translate into binary digits. Jews generally don't seek new converts, although the Orthodox Chabad Lubavitch sect, for example, has extensive Web offerings aimed at attracting non-observant Jews.

LIFECHURCH.TV

For at least one church, the Internet is so central that the church has a ''dot'' in its name.

Lifechurch.tv has 11 campuses in six states, including a new congregation that meets at Palm Beach Central High School in Wellington. Its 12th campus is on the Internet, and the church tries to give online participants the same experience as those worshiping in person.

YOUTH MOVEMENT

Thanks to online shopping, online dating, online social networking and online darn-near-everything-else, many young Americans don't distinguish between their friends from school and those from Facebook. These youngsters just see them all as friends, said David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, a consulting firm that conducts survey research for churches and other religious groups.

In fact, Kinnaman's firm predicts that by 2010, 10 percent of Americans will rely exclusively on the Internet for their religious experience.

But no one is predicting that the Internet church will replace the physical church -- at least not yet.

'The big fear, especially in the mid '90s and late '90s, was, `Would people leave the pews?' '' said Heidi Campbell, a professor of communication who studies religion on the Internet at Texas A&M University.

That didn't happen -- at least, no faster than it was happening before. In fact, many people Campbell has interviewed say they would prefer to participate in church in person if their life circumstances allowed it.

You'd get no argument from Smith. While she likes participating in Flamingo Road over the Web and introducing family and friends to the church, her longer-term hope is to have a branch campus in Fort Worth.

It may take some time to get there, but the church also would like to see it happen.

Labels: church, Internet, ministry, Scott Andron

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Wednesday, August 22, 2007

The Stained Glass Ceiling

Aug. 20 - Decades after the ordination of women in most Protestant churches, women still find it difficult to get senior positions in big congregations. (Producer: Brent McDonald)

To view this video, please click on "Link to external source."

Labels: Brent McDonald, ministry, ordination, Stained Glass Ceiling, video, women