How to Suit a Lanky Student?
image by shortshrifted
Where does Waldo get his suits? Or Uncle Sam? Or Abe Lincoln impersonators? I ask, because, buying suits for real tall skinny guys is darn hard, especially if said guy has a small slim wallet.
My quest for a good-fitting suit (is it really “well-fitting”??) began more than a year ago, before I went to Scotland where I was to wear suits and a clergy collar every day. Before setting off for Scotland, I looked around at some discount suit stores for a nice cheap suit that fit reasonably well, but all I could find was baggy-pants floppy-neck suits made for short rotund people.
A suit made for your average joe does not fit me. You can’t take pleated pants in more than an inch and have them look decent. All the jackets were made for men who, what shall I say, had reached the expanding-belly stage of life. I’m not quite there myself, so I’d rather not have a suit coat that leaves room in case I become pregnant or feel like wearing a life jacket to work.
And if that wasn’t hard enough, I’m young, I’m hip: I want flat front pants — no pleats for folks under 30, I say — which narrows my options even more.
So I looked for suits in Scotland, but didn’t want to sell my plane ticket back to pay for one. I made do for the year, and figured I’d find a lovely suit for the lanky pastor in the good ole U S of A. Two words: real hard!
First, I made the mistake of trying on the Hugo Boss Red Label suit one day at the mall. OMG, that suit was made for me! 40L fits like a glove — pants are perfect, jacket a glorious slim cut. I had never tried on anything that fit better, or was of better quality, or said “buy me” more, or …. cost so MUCH. $900! I put it calmly back on the rack and cried over a free sample at the chocolate store. The Hugo Boss Red Label was made for me, but in another life where I’m an attorney or doctor or, well, anything but a student looking for a church job.
So I started looking elsewhere, particularly via mail order. Lands End — nice flat front pants, but the jacket was too short and could fit my entire family inside. Banana Republic — nice quality, but the jacket kept running back off my shoulders in this weird I-hate-you sort of way. Nothing warmed my heart like the Huge Boss. Nothing, that is, until I happened across a sale at JCrew.
Cue magical music…..
Not only did this three button navy flat front suit fit pretty darn well, but it was on major sale…making it about 1/3 the cost of the Hugo Boss. I’m not always a fan of JCrew, even if Michelle Obama loves it — they’re expensive and a little too frat boy for me. But, thank goodness, they cut their suits for the lanky among us, and their sale prices are pretty reasonble.
So, if you’ve got PTSG (poor tall skinny guy syndrome), and can’t afford the Hugo Boss Red, I highly recommend J Crew. Until I’m Rev. Dollar, it’ll do just fine.
Twitter Presentation Outline
I led a “lunch and learn” today at Columbia Seminary on Twitter. I find web 2.0 stuff really fun to think about, and enjoy teaching, so it was a good time for me — and nobody walked out, so I think others enjoyed it a bit too. Here’s the outline I used, borrowed hugely from Jeffrey Levy’s wiki here (which I found via twitter, of course). It was a small enough group that I could take plenty of questions throughout, but here’s the general flow…
Twitter Presentation to CTS Staff/Faculty
prolegomena
- I’ve only been Twittering for six weeks.
- I enjoy it, I’ve experienced it, I’ve read up on it a bit, but….I wouldn’t want to take a Carlos exam on it.
- Sort of like Montreat: really difficult to explain; you just have to experience it for yourself
- credit and thanks to: http://microblog4gov.pbwiki.com/Webinar Jeffrey Levy, Director of Web Communications, EPA (and example of use of Twitter)
here we go:
Imagine if you could….
- get quick answers to simple questions (like, what new book do you recommend?)
- throw out new ideas to get responses from people whose opinions you trust
- be supported by colleagues and friends around the world (say more….)
- keep up with the buzz
- establish a network of people involved in issues similar to yours, with the ability to check them out beyond a handshake
2. Basics
* (show simple tweet) Online, 140 characters
* (show public stream) Visible to all, in theory, but…
* Mostly, other people aren’t listening
* Create a professional account
*Differences between microblog, FB status, IM other? (this is key. show the difference.)
2b Images
*front porch
*stream/river
*cocktail party
*lifestreaming
*waterhole
*microblogging
3. Focus, or — so, how do you network now?
* (show @xxx tweet) With people you know
* So what?
o Like quick conversation in hall, on elevator
o Tweet as “look at this” / “here’s more” / “whaddya think?”
4. Professional ways to use Twitter (why use it?)
* Networking
o Meeting people in your field
o Who does @aaa follow? I’ll check out @bbb, then.
o Two-way communications
+ issue discussions
* Listening
o Early detection system
o Opinions, feedback from experts
* Broadcasting
o Sharing resources
+ Website, doc, event
+ RSS feed
o Live tweeting (at conferences)
o Public outreach/explanations
5. Following (as in, so how do I do that)
* (show a tweet from @yyy) Who’s this?
* (show @yyy profile) Aha
* (show @yyy stream) Okay, this person’s got stuff to say
(show follow) Now I can see what they say
6. Joining the conversation (Using Twitter)
* Posting
* Retweeting
Direct messages
Getting Started….if time
Additional Info:
–note mobile device/cpu divine
–twitter clients (Tweetdeck, Tweetie, Twitterific, DetroyTwitter)
–Search twitter: search.twitter.com
End with:
Doc Searls, “Screw Popularity. Just Make Yourself Useful”
“”Friends” and “followers” aren’t what matter. If you want substance, you need useful inputs. Not volume. Not style. Not popularity. Those have their places, just not in your face when you’re looking for useful and interesting stuff.”
….about being useful; Twitter as a tool for service
On Question Asking, Job Interviews, and Raised Inflections, You Know?
Do you like asking questions? I wonder if you like asking questions more or less than me? What sorts of questions do you like to ask?
Do you have particular questions you like asking at job interviews, or when you meet new people, or when the conversation lags?
A recent success of mine was: if you could do anything in the world other than what you do now, what would you do? This resulted in some great dinner table conversation among some folks who did not know each other well, you know? Any other big favorite or fall backs for you? Does your work allow you situations to particularly ask questions? I wonder if you are careful in pastoral care situations to ask, or not to ask probing questions?
Do you have a list of questions for job interviews? Would you be willing to share it, or put some of your favorites in the comments below?
I wonder if your list has any of these on it?
- I’ve read what your forms says you want, but what do you want in a new pastor?
- I’ve heard it said, “It’s the congregation’s job not to want to change.” What do you think?
- How much time do you envision a pastor spending on each of these tasks?
- What’s the first thing you want the person who fills this position to do?
- Is there something your congregation is particularly passionate about?
- What’s one thing your congregation does not do well?
- What does the church hope to be doing in 5 years? 10 years?
- What is the understanding of Lord’s Day worship in the life of your congregation?
- What is your church known for in your community?
- If I asked a person in town about your church, what would they tell me?
- What do you want me not to ask?
So what have you always wanted to ask but haven’t? What should be added to this list? What do you think?
image by svilen mushkatov
Revolutionary Road
The book is better than the film movie, but I highly recommend “Revolutionary Road” in both its incarnations. 
The story is a dark one. Perhaps the most depressing love story I’ve ever read. But it’s beautiful in its horrible perfection, and just done so well you’ve got to love it — or at least appreciate it.
Set in the 1950s, April and Frank Wheeler get married young, have a baby, move to the suburbs, Frank finds work at his father’s old company and, quickly, they get tired. Tired of the suburb life and the put-on fru-fru and the social expectations and the stuckness so they decide, after one of their epic fights, to move to Paris. To get out of the stuck.
But, well, that doesn’t work either. For the rest of the story, you need to read it, or just see the film (if you want to spend more money and get less out of it).
The novel, by Richard Yates, is brilliant. The film, directed by Sam Mendes and staring some guy named Leonard DiCaprio and this Kate Winslet person, is absolutely fabulous — in the dark depressing want-to-cry-all-night-long sort of way. Winslet is as good as it gets.
The book sparked some good conversation in my Little Shop of Stories book group. What is the Revolutionary Road equivalent for today’s young couples? Do we really have as many freedoms as we think we do? Would today’s society, more accepting of divorce and abortion, bring a different end for Frank and April? Are some relationships doomed from the start? What is the relationship between vocation and marriage?
So drive down a road near you and read or see the revolution that is, Revolutionary Road.
Is it the congregation's job not to want to change?
Recently, I’ve been reading, and very much enjoying, Norma Cook Everist and Craig L. Nessan’s book “Transforming Leadership: New Vision for a Church in Mission.” It’s a really solid work on how congregations (or other like groups) form community, claim and test their identity, and are “unleashed” for mission. I recommend it, but….
In a chapter entitled, “Honoring the People: Congregational Realities” they make the claim: “It is the congregation’s job not to want to change.” Here’s how they back it up.
“We live in a world of rapid change, most of which is out of our control. Moreover, there is an essential serendipity to life that also renders life out of control: we get sick, accidents happens, people die. In the midst of a world that seems out of control, people seek security. We want to hold on to something unmoveable, especially our faith in God.”
I get it. In systems theory it’s called homeostatis. People want, quite sensibly, “to hang on to the things upon which they have depended in the past.” I get it. There are really good and faithful and even essential reasons that congregations resist change.
But I think saying it’s the congregation’s JOB to resist change is a little strong. It’s our congregation’s job to be faithful to God, yes. It’s our congregation’s job to be careful about the way forward, sure. But it’s also our congregation’s job to follow God who always seems to be doing a new thing. To follow Christ, who is about transformation and newness of life.
I also don’t like what this claim is saying about congregations. It dumbs them down. It assumes their “job” is to be less than their best. It also, consequently, sets pastors up as the necessary main change agent and the congregation as the entrenched system. That just doesn’t seem right to me. I’ve seen plenty of congregations who are eager, longing for change, and it’s the pastor who is holding them back. And I wouldn’t want to claim the corollary: “It’s the pastor’s job to want change?” Seems a bit limiting.
So I definitely recommend the book, and I’ll continue to think about this point….after all, it’s my job.
image by s nada
Growing PC(USA) Congregations
Growth is hard to measure, in churches at least. There’s spiritual growth and numerical growth, theological growth and potluck growth, and those nasty growths in the downstairs bathroom. That said, I found the following statistics on growth really interesting.
In 2002, a survey was conducted on 100 of the 400 fastest growing PC(USA) churches (on average, these congregations reported 42% growth in the previous five years.) These statistics are compared to “other” Presbyterian churches, a sample representing 47,341 worshipers in 253 congregations.
A few interesting tidbits from the survey, then my comments below:
- growing churches are younger churches. The typical growing PC(USA) congregation was founded in 1954, while other PC(USA) congregations were founded, on average, in 1884 — which is a good reminder how old the denomination really is.
- the largest service in growing PC(USA) churches is more likely than in other PC(USA) churches to include the Lord’s Supper, singing by a choir or soloist, piano music, laughter, applause, participation by teens, drums or electric guitar music, calling out “Amen,” the use of visual projection equipment, and people raising their hands in praise.
- putting the previous in numbers: of the growing PC(USA) churches, 26% use visual projection compared to 9% of the other; 39% use drums or guitar compared to 13% of the other congregations.
- growing congregations are less likely to offer groups that serve in the community, and less likely to have close friends in the congregation
- growing PC(USA) congregations more frequently report experiences of spontaneity, joy, inspiration, and a sense of God’s presence in worship.
There’s a lot of talk in the PC(USA) these days about decline, so it’s fun to look at stats on growth (of the numerical variety, at least). I don’t know about you, but I’ve found when you start speaking about growth among pastors serving congregations that are not growing, often they’ll quickly become defensive and the conversation itself declines quickly. Such conversations need to be framed in positive ways recognizing the gray areas of growth — like, perhaps, that growing congregations are less likely to offer groups that serve in the community.
But these statistics give an interesting snapshot of growing PC(USA) congregations, one that helps us understand our diversity and calls us to spread the good news in new ways.
Personally, I think growth — in its many forms — follows church done well. Worship done well gives the people a place to voice their praise of God. Service done well challenges and sustains disciples. Community done well nurtures those who gather in Christ’s name. Sometimes, church done well leads not to growth in numbers, but in other ways — growing into Christ’s ways. Well.
So, is your congregation growing? In what way? How and why?
For the survey and others like it, visit Research Services or Statistics.
image by Diane Groves
Too Taxing to be Accurate?
Scott Simon, in his essay “A Simpler Tax Code” last week on NPR put it well: “the U.S. tax code is 67,204 pages long — about as long as 112 copies of James Joyce’s Ulysses. And just about as comprehensible.”
I’ve spoken to several of my brightest friends. These folks hold masters degrees, preach inspiring sermons, consistently find their children on the playground, and haven’t lost their keys for several days. We are all in agreement: we are far from certain our taxes are 100% accurate.
I did my taxes — or got a good start — last weekend. I didn’t have many chauffeurs this cycle, so I’m still waiting for that call from Obama. But heck, taxes are complicated. Way too complicated.
Megan and I have income from several states, run our own “writing businesses” (in other states, of course) give a fair amount away, and earn interest on a piece of swampland in Florida that someone sold us a few years back. When I do my taxes I think, “Come on, self, you got an A+ in your college math class.” And then I stare at the blank boxes for another five minutes (ok, the math course was “Math 101″ in a summer term at the University of Hawaii; I think I was the only student who showed up every day…and cared at all.)
And don’t even get me started on minister’s taxes. A tax professional told me recently that, when ordained, I’d have to seek out a tax professional who specialized in pastor’s taxes. Wait?! They’re so complicated that even tax professionals can’t do them? Yikes!
So I have a little sympathy for Tom Daschle (and Timothy Geithner and Nancy Killefer). Just a little for Tom, though, as I don’t think any unseated senator should earn $5 million from a lobbying law firm while claiming he’s neither a lobbyist or practicing law.
I better stop there. And to any blogging IRS agents, you’d be wasting your time with an audit. We don’t make much, and I’m pretty sure we over pay.
image by Linda Long
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