It's my anniversary!

[Critters2]

Today is the 20th anniversary of my ordination. Seems like only yesterday I was sitting in a pew, wondering why the hell my ACM hadn't arrived yet and what would happen if she wasn't there in time to give me my vows! But she was, and I haven't done anything so bad as to have my standing yanked in the 20 years since. Big party at church this coming Sunday!

[scarlet_owl]

1. Congratulations on twenty years!

:toast: :bounce:

[Critters2]

2. Thanks

It's mostly a matter of continuing to breathe--and neither dating nor killing any parishioners. Still, some can't do it for 20 years, apparently :)

[RevCheesehead]

3. Way to go, Critters!!

For your patience, endurance, love, and infinite forgiveness, I salute you! O8)O8)

[Critters2]

4. Well, I do my best

and let the Holy Spirit do the rest. And believe me, of the two of us, She's doing most of the work!

But thanks, nonetheless!

[RevCheesehead]

5. That's why her name is Grace.

O8)

Congrats, sweetie. Remember, that for the one or two troublemakers, there are dozens who adore you. They just aren't good at expressing that out loud.

:hug:

[Critters2]

6. I truly do appreciate that

Thanks :hi:

I won't post in the lounge anymore, and I do think they should include a clause about not being allowed to criticize Chicago in the DU rules!!

But hey, the beagle scored 189 out of 200 at dog school Monday night. Just try to fuck up a week when that happens--can't be done!

[RevCheesehead]

8. Hooray for the Beagle!!

You must be proud! :)

Chicago? Isn't that where the tourists live? :P

Don't let the lounge weirdness keep you away. It'll get back to its snarky fun in a few weeks, as we get closer to the elections. And once I'm done with our celebration this weekend (150th), I'll be more present here, the lounge, and the Keith Olbermann group.

[Critters2]

10. 150th?! Congrats are due to you and yours

Those moments are important for congregations. Enjoy the celebration!







Oh, and my favorite moment in the lounge was the jerk who thought someone should tell my "bishop" about my behavior. So, let me get this straight...my CM is dealing with two churches that are messed up by pastors' sexual misconduct toward parishioners, a pastor with financial "malfeasance" issues, and another who actually got involved in a physical brawl at a meeting (and these are just the things I know about)...and he thinks I'll be in some kind of trouble for getting in an argument in a discussion board? Yeah, call my bishop. I double dog dare ya.

:rofl:

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. Congratulations!

And I'm glad you are still here.

Cheers! :applause:

[Critters2]

9. Thanks

and yeah, I'm still here. I'm just not there.

It's been a helluva week. On top of the lounge bullshit, I unthinkingly clicked on a fake paypal e-mail (as I warn all of my parishioners to never do) the other night. So, to protect myself I spent a chunk of yesterday closing my checking account, changing my debit card number and my password and my security questions, etc.

I hate the internets. And Chicago.

But it's STILL my anniversary! :beer:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. Blessings on you!

:-)

[Critters2]

12. So the thing on Sunday went pretty well

My ACM was in worship, and brought greetings from the Association. The CM sent a congratulatory letter that I read. There was special music--we're blessed to have all of the school district music faculty as members. I wasn't happy with my sermon, and the whole service ran long. So, the ACm left early, because she had to be at a congregational anniversary celebration. We had a really mice potluck after worship, and the deacons ordered the most beautiful cake. One of them took pics. I'll try to get them posted when I can. My dad was here, which was nice, too. As with so many things in the last year, I wish my mom could have been here.

Then after all of that, we went home and found a raccoon in my basement. The beagle had it cornered. I'm glad it didn't attack her. Have to figure out how it got in.

All in all, a nice weekend--apart from the raccoon incident.

Thanks, again, for all your good wishes!

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. You have rather a problem with critters in your home, don't you?

I'm glad you had a good anniversary celebration!

Are you Illinois, or Illinois South? And by "ACM" I assume you mean "Associate Conference Minister"? When I was in NY, they reorganized the Conference to not have Association Ministers, but, I think, ACMs, although they still kept the concept of an "Association". It really pissed me off. I grew up in WI, with a solid, spot-on incredible Conference, that still maintains Associations that are headed by Association Ministers, the logical title.

Sorry, I probably shouldn't rant in your celebratory thread, and if I were a decent Christian I would delete this rant, but I'm Rabrrrrrr, I trust in God's infinite grace, and so I leave this all in. :-)

[RevCheesehead]

14. I'm more interested in the "mice potluck" myself.

:evilgrin:

[Rabrrrrrr]

15. Fuckin' FIBs. Typical Chicago food, from what I've experienced.

"Hey - Butkis - do we want food, or something gross and disease-laden and filthy?"

"We're Chicagoans, Murphy - human decency is beyond our ken - go for the filthy and gross!"

[RevCheesehead]

16. Anything goes, if ya deep-fry it.

Mmmm... Deep-Fried mice.

At least you're far away. They come up here every summer. :scared:

[Rabrrrrrr]

17. Ah, yes - the annual migration to fill Wisconsin's roadways and landscape

with as much as trash as possible while talking loudly and rudely and acting like you are the most important person in the world.

[Critters2]

19. I remember the guy on a Milwaukee radio station,

when I was driving to my folks' one Friday afternoon. He wanted all the FIBs to feel at home, so he suggested they roll down their car windows every 3 miles and throw out $.40. I think it would be $1.oo today.

We lived in Winneconne for a couple of years when I was a kid, and people there talked about FIB and I had no idea what it meant. Except that everytime a car with Illinois plates did anything rude or illegal, like running a stop signs, my friends' moms would whisper "FIBs" under their breath. One of those things where I didn't know what it meant, but I did at the same time. Ya know?

But Chicago is the finest city in the world. Or so I'm told.

[Critters2]

20. Isn't "fucking FIBs", however accurate, redundant? nt

[Critters2]

18. I meant "nice potluck". Altho the mice casserole, while not as

attractive as the cake, was really quite tasty. One of those moments when you feel, as pastor, that you should take a little of everything, so as not to hurt any feelings...and then you find yourself pleasantly surprised. Slow cooked mouse, combined with cream of mushroom soup and green beans, topped off with fried onion rings...quite a find! Still, being vegetarian, I hate it when I find meat in places where I don't expect it. I do hope they were free-range, organic mice.

[Critters2]

21. Actually, they are Association Ministers here.

I'm still using Iowa lingo. Sorry. Here we have Association Ministers that serve the Associations, an ACM (his official title) who does things at the Conference level (not altogether sure what things), and a Conference Minister. AMs are considered conference staff--for budget reasons, as I understand it. Their calls are issued by the Conference, but they're called to serve a specific Association. When I started out in Illinois, many years ago, they were ACMs.

Iowa was a real education for me--having started out in Illinois. Iowa has 6 associations, but no association offices. All staff--CMs and ACMS--are considered to work for the conference, and work out of the conference office in Des Moines. They're assigned to serve an association, but have a portfolio at the conference level, too. This means, among other things, that the conference board can move an ACM from one association to another when they want. Or have an ACM serve two associations. When I arrived in Iowa, due to an ACM vacancy, my ACM was serving Northwestern and Southeastern Associations. This meant he was working with churches from Keokuk to Sioux Falls! Yeah, there's an efficient use of OCWM!

Having all staff based in the largest city in a largely rural state always seemed like a PR blunder to me. People assumed that staff lived in Des Moines because they didn't want to live in smaller towns. This bred resentment that could easily have been avoided. BUt we were always told it was cheaper to do it this way. I never quite bought that, because staff were on the road so much that mileage expenses couldn't have been less than renting an office in a church basement in each association.

I do think Associations in Wisconsin are more autonomous than they are in Illinois, though. As I understand it, AMs are actually called by the associations there, and, in general, the associations are stronger.

And to top it all off, Illinois is probably going to go through another restructure for financial reasons, most likely eliminating one association and redrawing lines accordingly. There's also some talk of spinning Chicago Metro off to be its own conference, a surprisingly popular prospect in these parts.

So, to answer your question...no, they're not really ACMs. I just need to train myself to use the appropriate term.

Oh, and Illinois, not Illinois South. I've never even sent a profile to Illinois South. There may be some fine folks there, but from everything I hear....:puke: