TruthBook Religious News Blog

Aug-11-2009
By Ed Langlois
Catholic News Service

PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- Across the country, hundreds of college graduates are opting to spend their first year out of school doing community service either in response to the tight job market or simply from a desire to do some good.

The Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest, which places volunteers in rural and urban areas in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, accepted 101 volunteers at the start of the 2009-10 service term, a 40 percent increase from the previous year.

Teach for America and the Peace Corps also have tracked big surges in volunteer numbers since the nation's economic downturn began in the fall of 2008 -- about 40 percent for Teach for America and 16 percent for the Peace Corps.

Smaller programs such as the Downtown Chapel in Portland, which sponsors a summer internship among the neighborhood's poor and homeless, also are attracting more helpers.

Jeanne Haster, director of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest, said the job market has prompted some young people to follow a path of service. But she also credited the generosity of this generation, which has grown up doing service work.

President Barack Obama's call for people to get involved in community service also has resonated deeply, she said. In April he signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which will increase the number of positions in the national AmeriCorps service program from 75,000 to 250,000 by 2017.

"This bill will dramatically increase the amount of support for service opportunities throughout the United States, enabling more Americans to volunteer during a time when so many in our country are in need," said Jim Lindsay, executive director of the Maryland-based Catholic Network of Volunteer Service.

This encouraging article can be accessed by clicking on "external source" at the bottom of the page.

Labels: AmeriCorps, Ed Langlois, Peace Corps, Serve America Act, service, volunteering

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Thursday, July 09, 2009

Appalachian Trail becomes spiritual journey

Jul 6, 2009 | by Adam Miller

DAMASCUS, Va. (BP)--In about three months, several hundred hikers will summit a northern Maine mountain called Katahdin, a 5,000-foot-high peak just south of the border with Canada. Many of them will have completed an arduous 2,175-mile journey and fulfilled a dream.

Those who complete the millions of footsteps from Springer Mountain, Ga., to Mount Katahdin are forever changed with stories to tell well into retirement: encounters with bears, demanding 30-mile days, odd new acquaintances, lifelong friends.

And some might tell the story of First Baptist Church in Damascus, Va., where Southern Baptists washed their feet and provided hot showers, medical care, Internet access and a good conversation about God.

"It started as a hotdog cookout," says pastor Wayne Guynn, who credits Linda and Jeff Austin with taking over the ministry and ramping it up.

Now, Guynn says, they partner with churches in Alabama and Georgia and with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia to simply make life more pleasant for hikers who come to the annual event known as Trail Days, which ran May 15-17 this year. In the process, they get to love hikers and tell them about Christ.

Nice kind of outreach - wonder if there are any Urantians in those churches? To read all about it, please click on "external source" for the whole article. Good reading, and a sweet idea.

Labels: Adam Miller, Appalacian Trail, God, hiking, Jesus, service, Trail Days

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Sunday, June 07, 2009

"Troublemaker”"Women Honored, Receive Ivy

By Nadia Berenstein
June 5, 2009

What sort of religious institution honors a “run-like-hell Catholic” and the first Asian-American woman Rabbi, among others?

Abigail Disney claimed to be shocked that Auburn Theological Seminary would choose to honor her at its Lives of Commitment Breakfast. "There are lapsed Catholics and then there are run-like-hell Catholics," she quipped, putting herself in the latter category. Nonetheless, Disney, philanthropist and producer of Pray the Devil Back to Hell, an award-winning documentary about Liberian Muslim and Christian women who unite to oust a dictator and end a civil war, admitted that her work is "powered by faith."

Auburn Theological Seminary, a multi-faith educational and research center, proclaims that its "faculty and graduates participated in the great social movements of the times, including the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, and the struggle against fundamentalism." At its thirteenth annual Lives of Commitment breakfast, held May 28 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in midtown Manhattan, about 650 people celebrated the central role that women of faith play in healing and repairing the world. Disney and the three other honorees—16-year-old Fatima Haidara, who received the 2009 Young Healer Award presented in partnership with The Sister Fund, Rabbi and Cantor Angela Buchdahl, and environmentalist Wendy Paulson—represent not only diverse backgrounds, but also the diverse ways in which the call to service can be heard and acted upon. Previous honorees have included Faye Wattleton, Dr. Jane Goodall, and Sister Helen Prejean. Although not always overtly religious, these women’s work is informed by spiritual values just the same.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article.

Labels: Abigail Disney, Auburn Theological Seminary, faith, Fatima Haidara, Nadia Berenstein, service, women

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Monday, April 27, 2009

Atlantans Return from Three-Year Global Peace Walk

By Alice Gordon, Staff Writer, The Atlanta Progressive News
(April 25, 2009)

(APN) ATLANTA -- Atlantan, Audri Scott Williams, had a vision in April 2005. She and the Spirit of Truth Foundation wanted to spread the message of global peace. Armed with the vision and word of mouth, six people agreed to sell their wordly assets and start out on a march across six continents doing public service work. The march took three and a half years, and covered 17 countries and six continents.

What began at the King Center in Atlanta on October 21, 2005, ended on the anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King in April 2009.

The group put their money together to start the march, including retirement saving and pensions. As they walked they were able to get contributions and often what was needed would appear, Williams said.

They would do community service wherever they went. "It was very much in our nature to always be mindful of being in service of a team as well as the community," Williams said. They helped Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans. They worked at food banks, ranches, and spoke at churches, schools, and other community organizations.

Much of their work was in keeping themselves centered believing peace begins within. First while advocating no religion there was a belief that the walkers had to be connected to something greater than themselves. They considered this "the energy that helped us to move forward," Williams said. They emphasized what they called detraumatization, being supportive of one another and able to communicate.

"Humor was very important in our group circle; every morning we laughed a lot... We also used it just to keep the energy at a certain level. Whenever we would get too heavy with things we would say, 'OK stop and drop. Get out of your head, get in your heart.' We had these little trigger sayings that we would use with each other."

The members of the group were asked to spend at least 20 minutes not just walking through, but becoming conscious of nature and things around them.

In the worldwide communities the group found they could only help by meeting people where they were at and understanding their boundaries and those of the community. "Really getting to know... what works and what doesn’t work. At the same time we have to know what is the time to shift those boundaries," Williams said.

The Trail of Dreams World Peace Walk was created to focus attention on peace and global transformation as the group moved around the planet. The group wanted to meet people and establish relationships. "We were not trying to be political or social; we were not trying to be anything other than moving people to people heart to heart. In order to get to that level to attract human relationships we had to find that within ourselves," Williams said.

Please click on "external source to read this complete article - well worthwhile reading...

Labels: Alice Gordon, Atlanta, global peace, service, Trail of Dreams World Peace Walk

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Sunday, March 15, 2009

Round-the-world bicycle trip turned into a spiritual journey as well

By Steve Timko
March 12, 2009

This is page one of a two-page article...interesting reading. Please click on "external source" for complete article.

Rick Gunn left Carson City in 2003 and spent almost three years pedaling around the world on his bicycle.
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Gunn, a former photojournalist for the Nevada Appeal, pedaled across 1,200 miles of Tibet at 16,000 to 18,000 feet while stricken with giardia. As a volunteer at an AIDS hospice in Thailand, at one point he risked contracting tuberculosis while caring for a dying woman. Then there was extreme poverty in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

"I watched people being hauled off the streets in Dhaka having starved to death," Gunn said. "They have trucks that go around and pick up the dead off the streets and sing a prayer for a proper burial."

The 45-year-old Gunn's long-term goal is to write a book about the journey, but in the meantime he's putting on multi-media shows. Gunn holds one Friday in Reno.

The seeds of the round-the-world adventure were planted by his mother, who wanted to travel around Europe. A kidney disease kept her from going for a long time, and then she finally went.

"As she got there, she had to turn around because she was too sick," Gunn said. "And she died without seeing the places she wanted to see. And that taught me a very powerful lesson."

Why on a bicycle?

"When you're inside of the car, it's almost like you're watching television," Gunn said. "You can't smell the smell. You can't feel the wind around you. And most importantly, you can't come in contact with the people. ... If you're on bicycle, you're perceived as one of them, even though you're a strange one of them."

By the time he made it to central Asia, he encountered extreme poverty in places in such as Tibet, Nepal and Bangladesh. The 52-day trip across Tibet with giardia left him fatigued and seriously considering quitting, so he took a break in Nepal and went rafting for a couple of months to rejuvenate and he saw a dead child floating in the river where he was rafting.

That kind of poverty inspired Gunn's goal of volunteering in each country, or at least making a record as a journalist of those doing things that made a difference.

Labels: adventure, bicycle, poverty, Rick Gunn, service, spirituality, Steve Timko, volunteering

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Friday, March 06, 2009

The Zen Millionaire's 14 Secrets To Happiness

Monday, March 02, 2009
Paul B. Farrell
MarketWatch

This is an entertaining and informative article, well worth the read. Please click on "external source" to access the complete article...

Take a few moments, read the "14 Secrets" below, then finish this simple sentence: "I'm the happiest (and richest) investor because ..."

Impossible? After all, we can't all be "the richest," let alone "the happiest." Yes you can. This is your life. Each of us in our own unique way can be "the happiest and also the richest" ... in your special way, in your world, all by yourself. You decide. Just do it.

Here are a few reminders, my Zen Millionaire's 14 secrets to being happy and rich. Maybe they'll jar your memory, maybe bring a smile, maybe help you see that at this one moment in time, in your own unique way, you really are the happiest, richest and luckiest investor living in the whole wide world:

1. Happiness is making others happy

2. Happiness is doing what you love (even if you're not doing it)

"Success is getting what you want," says Uncle Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha. "Happiness is wanting what you get."

3. Happiness is some Cheerios and a warm puppy

For Peanuts' creator Charles Schultz, it's very simple: "Happiness is a warm puppy." And pure joy in Anna Quindlen's "A Short Guide to A Happy Life:" "Get a life in which you pay attention to the baby as she scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a Cheerio with her thumb and first finger. Turn off the cell phone. Turn off your regular phone, for that matter. Keep still. Be present. Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you." God bless Snoopy and cheery Cheerios!

4. Happiness is getting lost in whatever you're doing

5. Happiness is getting into action and doing what's right

6. Happiness is also doing nothing, just whistling

7. Happiness is faking it so good you really are happy

8. Happiness is more a bunch of little moments than big deals

9. Happiness is knowing when 'enough is enough'

10. Happiness is not being attached to money and stuff

Remember Henry Miller's famous opening line in "Tropic of Cancer:" "I have no money, no resources, no hopes, I am the happiest man alive."

11. Happiness is spending less than you earn

Americans know this truth, from Charles Dickens' famous formula: "Annual income, 20 pounds; annual expenditure, 19 pounds; result happiness. Annual income, 20 pounds; annual expenditure, 21 pounds; result misery."

12. Happiness is doing what you really love

13. Happiness is being of service ... to your world

In "The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success," Deepak Chopra says: "Everyone has a purpose in life, a unique gift of special talent to give others ... ask yourself, 'How am I best suited to serve humanity?' Answer that question and put it into practice.

14. Happiness is about being 'rich in spirit'

"Instead of focusing almost exclusively on our finances," says Ralph Warner in "Get A Life -- You Don't Need A Million To Retire Well," we "should be thinking about the things that truly make a difference in our later years; our health, spiritual life, relationships with family and friends, and having a plate full of interesting things to do."

Now add your comment, complete this sentence: "I am the happiest (and richest) investor because ..." The prize? It comes from within, an investment that will continue growing, making you richer in "spirit and in fact" as "you cause happiness wherever you go" today, and every day. And share this column: Email it to friends and loved ones.

Labels: happiness, money, Paul B. Farrell, service

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Monday, February 09, 2009

Born-Again American: A Christian-Tinged Campaign From Norman Lear, a Religious-Right Foe

February 03, 2009 06:37 PM ET | Dan Gilgoff
By Dan Gilgoff,

The music video for Born Again American, TV producer and liberal activist Norman Lear's new campaign to promote service and volunteerism, might surprise you. The video, which features a new song that's also called "Born Again American," appropriates blatantly evangelical language: "I'm a Born Again American, conceived in Liberty/My Bible and the Bill of Rights, my creed's equality." How ironic, given that Lear has been battling the religious right—the evangelical right, really—for nearly three decades. Lear founded People for the American Way shortly after the Moral Majority had opened its doors.

Has Lear jumped on the bandwagon of progressives who've "gotten religion" in recent years?

Not exactly. I found a Washington Post article describing People for the American Way's 1980 founding, and it turns out that Lear has long used religion to battle the religious right:

Two organizations, one made up entirely of mainline religious leaders and the other with them predominating, have sprung up in recent weeks to fight the evangelists of the Christian right.

One group, People for the American Way, will be launched formally today by a coalition that includes television producer Norman Lear, former senator Harold Hughes (D-Iowa), the Rev. Theodore Hesburgh of Notre Dame, Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum of the American Jewish Committee and Dr. William Howard and Dr. William P. Thompson, the current and past presidents of the National Council of Churches.

Their plans call for distributing five 60-second TV spots, already produced by Lear, dealing with the Christian right. "We are trying to communicate to the American people that the Christian community understands that people must make up their own minds" about political issues, explained Thompson, who is the chief executive officer of the United Presbyterian Church.

"The church has the right to express its views," Thompson continued, "but it does not have the right to tell people how to vote."

A helpful reminder that liberals have been fighting religious conservatives with religion—and not just arguments for church/state separation—since way before the religious left's post-2004 revival.

Labels: Christianity, Dan Gilgoff, Norman Lear, People for the American Way, religious right, service, volunteering

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Friday, November 07, 2008

4 mood boosters for good health

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

It's no secret that a positive outlook supports good health. But how do we foster good mental and spiritual attitudes that will, hopefully, carry over into our physical bodies? Here are some suggestions, based on universal spiritual principles that can be used by anyone, whether or not they are religious.

----- Develop a passion ----

We all need a reason to get out of bed in the morning, and not everyone is lucky enough to have a job they feel passionately about. So why not develop a passion for nature, for example, that will get you off the couch and out walking every day? Others find passion in art and never miss an opportunity to check out the latest exhibition.

The particular passion is unimportant; just so you have something that sets your heart racing. My father, for example, has a passion for collecting vintage fishing lures that takes him to antique stores and flea markets far and wide. He is at his happiest when he is consumed by his passion.

--- Focus on others ----

We all have problems and many of them don't have an immediate solution. Instead of focusing obsessively on my problems, I find it a relief to think about others. Suddenly my headaches and upset stomach disappear when I am working as a volunteer or just simply helping out a friend. Anything that gets my mind off the ""me, me, me"" track can only improve my outlook on life.

---- Have faith -----

Faith is a difficult concept for many people, especially those who do not participate in organized religions. I am not a religious person but I find faith in many ways. I live in California and am surrounded by natural beauty that gives me faith that the world is generally a good place. I think sometimes about family members and loved ones who have passed on, knowing that they would want me to have a happy, healthy life. Those thoughts give me faith.

--- Take a break from the news ----

I try every year to spend a week where I do not read, watch, or listen to the news. This is not about sticking my head in the sand. Rather, I find that I develop information overload after a while and become cynical. Taking a break from being constantly informed helps me refresh my mind and develop some hope in what seems like a very dark time in world history.

All of us deal with the stress of life in different ways - some become workaholics, others curl up into depression. The only sure thing is that we need to take care of whole beings - mind, body, and soul - if we are to have the fullest lives possible.

(Source: health.yahoo.com)

Labels: faith, health, passion, service, spirituality, stress

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Friday, May 30, 2008

Spiritual fitness is as important as physical fitness

By Ch. (Capt) John M. Boulware - 55th Wing Chapel
05/29/2008

Spiritual health - let's call it spiritual fitness - takes discipline too. Faith exercised regularly grows strong and vibrant; faith ignored becomes weak and flabby. William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army; Mother Theresa, the missionary to India's poor; Amy Carmichael, who established a home for the children of Hindu temple prostitutes; Billy Graham, noted as the greatest evangelist of the 20th century; and Corrie ten Boom, whose family hid Jews from the Nazis - I am sure all of these are listed among God's spiritually disciplined heroes.

They are heroes because they knew that it is their faith and their spirituality that ultimately made them uniquely human and of substantial value to the rest of the world.

I want to offer to you then four things I believe will assist you in becoming more spiritually fit. First, stretch. Without stretching and enriching your soul through spiritual learning, you can overextend or hurt yourself or others. Remember, you are only able to receive from others that which you have given. When you're at work or at home, be sure to stretch your mind and heart in new ways to incorporate the daily changes that have occurred not only in your life, but in the lives of your co-workers or loved ones. Be willing to give of yourself and not take others for granted so your relationships will be enriched and not suffer instead.

Second, do knee bends! Knee bends require having the right attitude. Become a "servant" leader or a devoted wingman and "bend down" to help others. Being a "servant" leader or wingman means being patient with others, being willing to do the jobs that don't get noticed but are essential to mission accomplishment, and being kind to someone who you may not like or who you know may not like you. Bending down to lift others up in your life, whether it is a co-worker, your spouse, children or a friend or foe, can be the greatest reward if your spiritual nature is as developed as it should be.

Third, cultivate spiritual team building activities. As "iron sharpens iron," we too help equip each other spiritually for the fight. Aiding in team and family growth takes being a good team player. This means working for consensus on decisions, sharing openly and authentically with others regarding personal feelings, opinions, thoughts and perceptions about problems and conditions. It also means involving others in the decision-making process, providing trust and support, having genuine concern for the problems of others; and being willing to compromise.

Finally, look in the mirror. Constantly evaluate your spiritual centeredness and accept who you are including your gifts as well as your limitations. Live up to your potential and believe that through both the good and the bad you are a vital and integral part of your family and all of your other relationships. If you're disciplined and perform the spiritual development exercises prescribed here, then as you become more engaged at work and at home both your Air Force and your personal family will notice not only are you more physically and mentally fit, but you are also more spiritually fit in order to successfully obtain personal achievement, relationship bliss and overall job-related mission accomplishment.

©Suburban Newspapers 2008

Labels: faith, family, John M. Boulware, service, spirituality

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Friday, July 13, 2007

Doing Small Things With Great Love

This short clip of Mother Theresa speaking contains her now-famous advice to do small things, but do them with great love. An inspirational treat!

Labels: love, Mother Theresa, service

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Monday, March 19, 2007

Americans use talents, creativity to reshape religion

March 18, 2007
BY DAVID CRUMM
FREE PRESS RELIGION WRITER

Macomb Township mom Laurie Hempel went from doing zero to 20 hours of church work a week over the last year -- all because she finally found a church where she could "give my 2 cents and shape something new."

And though engineer Nicole Howard of Lathrup Village was laid off by Ford Motor Co. last month, she said she's not worried, because her Detroit church is the real center of her life. That's where Howard said she does her most important work -- spearheading a group of women who train themselves in skills ranging from weight loss to financial planning.

Hempel and Howard are among millions of Americans who are driving a head-over-heels transformation. The rising power of self-expression is becoming a central part of faith. Congregations across the country are changing from places where people go only for religious inspiration and instruction to places where people seek concrete ways to express their creativity, insights and talents.

Some scholars call the transformation the end of a 500-year cycle of reformation, a continuation of the individualistic streak in Christianity touched off by religious reformer Martin Luther. Others say what's unfolding is part of the trend toward what is called crowdsourcing -- allowing ordinary people to shape the future of congregations.

Whatever it is called, the trend is powerful. As the American passion for religious self-expression rises, the centuries-old power of religious leaders is fading, and many traditional labels are falling away.

Change is showing up in many ways:

• It's usurping the power of the preacher. "It makes you nervous as a pastor these days when you step into the pulpit knowing that everybody sitting in front of you is just two clicks in the Internet away from being smarter than you are on any subject you choose to talk about," said the Rev. Ken Wilson, pastor of the Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor.

• It's making familiar religious denominations obsolete. Howard's church, one of Detroit's most famous Baptist congregations, is dropping "Baptist" from its name at the huge new Second Ebenezer Church rising along I-75. Second Ebenezer is going nondenominational because Howard, the Rev. Edgar Vann and other members have decided that religious consumers now care more about the quality of programs than even the most time-honored religious names.

• It's causing mainline churches to look for new methods of shoring up membership and sending even nontraditional churches such as Kensington Community Church in Troy back to the drawing board.

Last year, Kensington clergy were shocked when they called for volunteers to open a new branch. They got a great turnout but were stunned to learn that 400 of the 500 who volunteered had been inactive until then. Even with their established marketing savvy, the Kensington leadership team hadn't fully tapped the power of the crowd in the pews.

"It was humbling to discover that," said the Rev. Steve Andrews, the senior pastor. "We like to think we know our people and that they're already active in our church, but these 400 had been sitting there with us -- and they weren't on our radar screen until that moment."

Triumph of faith and expression

Americans' historic passion for faith remains as strong as ever, University of Michigan sociologist Wayne Baker found in studying American values.

What's fueling the transformation in American congregations, Baker has found, is a strengthening over the last 20 years of another powerful American value: freedom of self-expression.

"I agree with those who say this looks like a continuation of centuries of reformation in religion," Baker said. "It's been going on around the world, but this desire for self-expression in religion has become most extreme in the U.S."

Flipping a pyramid in Detroit

In Detroit, Vann and members of Second Ebenezer figured out what was happening without global data. They simply listened to one another.

Still, the decision to drop their Baptist label was a dramatic step.

In the late 1990s, Vann was the public face of the city's Baptist churches as president of the Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit and Vicinity. He spoke for a denomination whose urban roots are in the great migration of African Americans from the South to jobs in the North a century ago.

"But now, we realize that people are moving away from following the old brands in making religious choices, so when the bronze letters finally go up on our building, we'll drop the word 'Baptist,' " Vann said.

The $25-million church is expected to open later this year.

"It's becoming clear to us that the traditional denominations were shaped like pyramids, with the critical mass at the bottom, mainly being asked to support a very small cone of people at the top," he said.

"In the 21st Century, that pyramid is inverted, and the hope of the local church -- really, the hope of the world, I think -- depends on our focusing not on that little cone, but on listening to the needs and the voices of that mass of people we often overlooked."

Firing up a crowd in Troy

In Troy, pastors at Kensington Community Church thought they pretty much understood America's religious transformation.

Two decades ago, they surfed along on a leading wave of casually dressed young preachers who gave up hymns for rock music and made worship so entertaining that even the most skeptical baby boomers would bend a knee.

They brought thousands of religiously inactive families back to church. About 10,000 people now show up for weekend services -- and that's after Kensington has dispatched thousands of members over the years to start a dozen other congregations.
But most of those start-ups were relatively small. Kensington had never had a volunteer mobilization quite like the one last summer that went to start Kensington East in Clinton Township.

The day after the Sunday that church leaders asked volunteers to sign up for the launch, they found themselves looking over a puzzling list of names.

Andrews and his colleagues soon realized they were watching a crowdsourcing event unfold in their midst. These 400 men and women weren't willing to register with the church office until they saw an opportunity they liked.

Marty Cracchiolo, a software developer from Macomb Township, was among the 400. "I used to be a Chreaster," he said. "You know? Just Christmas and Easter.

"Then, I started attending Kensington in Troy, but I was on the fence there, waiting for a good opportunity."

Finally, Cracchiolo heard that the new church in Clinton Township needed volunteers to work with electronic gear. "I enjoy that and, now that I've gotten involved at the new church, I've found that the people are awesome."

A restless group of believers

Tony Campolo, one of the most popular evangelical speakers on college campuses these days, has been telling evangelical leaders about this powerful shift for years and urging them to develop a new set of ministerial skills.

The problem in many traditional denominations, Campolo said, is that "church leaders are wasting time yelling at each other over old issues ... and they're not watching what's happening right in front of us."

At the Vineyard Church in Ann Arbor, Wilson said one of his most important ministerial talents these days is stepping out of the way and unleashing his congregation.

"We all know how churches have worked for years: We welcome people, put them into classes, teach them all these beliefs we want them to swallow and tell them that they're expected to serve in our programs. Then we sit back and hope they do what we told them to do," Wilson said.

"But that just doesn't work anymore. We've got to realize that people see themselves as pilgrims. They're not clay waiting for us to turn them into Christians."

Here's how it works now, he said: "When people come up to me and say, 'Oh, wouldn't it be great if our church did this or that?' I stop them right there and I say, 'Great idea! You're the church. Go start it."

Contact DAVID CRUMM at 313-223-4526 or dcrumm@freepress.com.

Labels: Christianity, church, congregations, crowdsourcing, David Crumm, religion, service