Personal Update
Out for a week
I've been a little busy with the new job stuff. Perhaps my last pastoral obligation for Covenant Baptist Church is being the camp pastor for the Southwest Baptist Youth Camping Association. SWBYC is made up of a number of progressive Baptist Churches in Texas. Two of our churches have been thrown out of the Baptist General Convention of Texas because of their open attitudes toward homosexuals.
I'm proud of these churches for standing by their beliefs, even if other Baptists disagree.
Our Church has been going to youth camp with these churches for 4 years now. Pastors in the churches take turns serving as camp pastor.
I'll be preaching each night to several hundred kids. It's quite a challenge for anyone. Somehow you have to be interesting, easy to listen to, faithful to the scriptures, and culturally relevant - all at once.
No pressure or anything.
I'll be back next Friday. When I return I plan to do a series of posts with details about my new job.
see ya soon.
rlp
I HAVE A JOB!
I have a job! Well, a 12 week gig that might lead to more.
Details to follow...
rlp
Strange days
I am in such a strange place, emotionally. It’s been a little over three months since I left professional ministry. People have asked me how I’m doing with that decision. I say the same thing every time.
I don’t know.
I knew it would take some time before the fullness of this transition could take root in my life. These first few months have felt like being on vacation. My mind knows that I am no longer the pastor of a church, but my heart isn’t buying it. Some part of me thinks that any day now I’ll be back in the pulpit.
But I won’t be. I’m not going back. At least not for the foreseeable future. I’ve learned not to say more than that.
I attend Covenant Baptist Church about half the time. Sometimes I sit in silence with the Quakers. Sometimes I go elsewhere. A few Sundays I have spent with Jeanene in blissful laziness, sipping tea or eating a late brunch. It’s so strange for me to be sitting in a diner eating eggs and french toast at 11:00 am on a Sunday. I keep looking around and wondering whose life I’m living.
Like many writers I pay a lot of attention to what’s happening to me emotionally and intellectually. I listen to my mind. I pay attention to my gut. And I’m noticing some strange things are going on with me.
I have a powerful aversion to anyone needing anything from me. I don’t want anyone to need me, apart from my wife and children. I still get emails from people asking my advice. I can hardly open them. I started an online Bible study, did two studies, and then fell apart. I can’t do it. Not now. Maybe someday. I don’t want to give advice. I don’t want to preach. I don’t want to go see people in the hospital. I don’t really want to be around people that much right now, out of a fear that they might start needing me.
It’s not a healthy way to be. It’s not the way I want to be in the long run. But right now that is my reality.
I also have some very negative feelings about the Church. Not the church I was at. I love Covenant Baptist Church. But the larger Church. I don’t want to talk about the Church. I don’t want to read books about the Church. I don’t care if the Church in America is relevant or growing or cutting edge or post-modern. I have almost no interest in the Church.
I’m not sure what that’s about.
I am very interested in God. And I’m interested in my own acts of prayer and devotion. Currently the best spiritual practice I have is mowing the lawn at Covenant and tending our labyrinth. I feel happy doing those things. No one sees the work I do. No one talks to me. No one needs anything from me. It’s pure service, and I love it.
I have also been isolating myself quite a bit. I spend most of my time alone. The contact I have with other people is very limited right now. But that feels good to me. At some point I assume I’ll come back out of my shell.
And then there is this: I’m not sure what affect all of this will have on my writing. For the first time since 2002, I have found it difficult to be interested in writing. I wrote a lot in the first weeks after leaving Covenant. But now my heart and mind and soul are turned toward the difficult task of finding a job. So I’ll continue to peck out a few words here, but I really don’t know what’s going to happen to Gordon Atkinson the writer.
rlp
Job Search: Next Chapter
I have a lot of things on my mind these days. Needing money will provide an amazing clarity of vision, though, so I find that mostly I’m dreaming about finding a job. I admit I’m probably building it up to be something far beyond what is realistic, but I keep imagining leaving the house in the morning, whistling, and grabbing a cup of coffee as I go out the door. A paycheck that comes regularly. Not having to worry about the next gig, or the next writing thing, or the next website.
I know this is an insanely unrealistic view of things, so you don’t have to leave comments to tell me so. I’m enjoying engaging in a little fantasy. I’m well aware that reality will - as it always does - slap me upside the head and bring me back down to earth.
Still…a job. Wow. Can you imagine?
People with jobs are like, "Yeah, we can imagine. We go to our jobs every day! I know, but I'm just saying...
After my sister helped me get my resume into some order, I realized that I actually have some marketable skills. The only issue is arranging them in such a manner that a human resources person would notice them.
• Good writer.
• Very nice set of generalized web design skills - running a server, handling light IT stuff, html, graphics, blah blah.
• Experience with Drupal CMS.
• Social media specialist with corporate experience.
I have begun to understand that the last of these may well be my most marketable skill. I developed a blog network for the Christian Century, and worked with Marcus Goodyear to develop another one for the high calling. Both of these have borne considerable fruit. And I’ve been working with a company in New Braunfels to develop the social media aspects of their website and have had amazing success in improving their rankings with Google.
And there is this: I am one of the early bloggers who managed to develop quite a nice little blog for himself. I have been immersed in social media from early on.
So with my sister’s help, I put my resume together and applied for my first job. USAA had a listing for a chief corporate blogger and social media manager.
“Who is more qualified than me?” I asked myself, as I cheerfully uploaded my resume to the USAA website. I never heard back, which is understandable. Uploading resumes to websites is a long shot. It’s something you do so that you can honestly say you’re looking for a job. It’s something you do while you work your own network and try to find opportunities that come through relationships. I’m not saying people don’t get jobs by uploading resumes, but the best opportunities usually come through personal relationships and networking.
Right after I uploaded my resume, I decided to put together a profile at Monster.com. So I did. That was on a Monday. The next day I got a call from someone who worked at Venturion, which I identified as some kind of corporate recruiting agency. I was flattered and agreed to stop by and meet with Don Huse that very week.
Don’s office was impressive. Rich carpet and dark paneled walls. I was quite intimidated, I must say. But Don’s opening words definitely put me at ease. He shook my hand and said,
I have to tell you that I’m a big fan of your blog. I’ve been reading Real Live Preacher for years now. My wife and I kept saying we should visit your church. I finally did - the week after you resigned.
Wow, the guy actually knows who I am. I know that among a certain community of blogging people, I’m sort of well known. My writing for the Christian Century has kind of gotten my name out there. But if you take 1000 people at random in my city and ask if they have heard of me, the odds are that none will know my name. So to find a corporate recruiter and job specialist who is aware of my situation and perhaps values my gifts is…well…really something.
Coming next: I meet for 3 hours with the people at Venturion and find out that my resume needs a lot more work.
AND…wait for it…my first job possibility!
Online Bible Study at 8pm tonight
Here is the link to the page where you can view the live streaming Bible study. This is the page you will go to every time we do a study together.
http://www.reallivepreacher.com/biblestudy
If you get there early, there is a into video for you. It's about 5 minutes long.
Tonight's schedule:
8:00 - 8:05 housekeeping
8:05 - 8:30 Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount
- How people read the Bible
- How we will read the text in this study
- What is the Sermon on the Mount
- Traditional approaches to studying this text.
- How we will approach the text.
8:30 - 8:55 discussion using chat feature.
see ya then
rlp
Bible study is on for tomorrow night.
THIS EVENT IS Tuesday, April 13th at 6pm in California, 7pm in Colorado, 8pm in Texas, and 9pm on the East Coast. Anyone else around the world will have to figure out the time for yourself.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109248905766497
Hey everyone, I thought I'd give a quick update about the Bible study tomorrow evening.
1. HOW DOES IT WORK?
Go to RealLivePreacher.com around 8 pm CST. If you get there early there will be either an introduction video or some written introduction for you to look at. At 8 pm I'll speak for 20 to 25 minutes in a streaming video that will be embedded here. Tomorrow will likely be just an introduction to the Sermon on the Mount. We might get to the first beatitude. After that I'll take questions via the chat screen and answer them on the streaming video. I plan to wrap the whole thing up in 45 minutes. If it looks like people are engaged and interested, we could stretch to an hour.
2. WHY DO THIS?
I'm not sure. I've been asked to do a Bible study or some kind of devotional thing before. I never wanted to when I was a pastor. Something feels right to me about it.
3. I'M NOT A CHRISTIAN. WHAT WILL I GET OUT OF THIS?
This study will be a deep look into what Jesus actually said and taught. We live in a culture that is heavily influenced by Jesus, or at least by people who like to talk about Jesus a lot. I think it's a good thing for everyone to have a passing knowledge of what Jesus actually said and taught.
4. I AM A CHRISTIAN. WHAT WILL I GET OUT OF THIS?
I'm going to introduce a way of reading the scriptures that is heavily influenced by contemplative Christianity. For those of you who have been involved in doctrinal Christianity, this might be a refreshing change of pace. I call this a "mystical reading of the text." I made that up, so don't bother looking it up in Wikipedia.
5. WHAT TO EXPECT FROM ME.
I'm not in a hurry. I'm not going to be formal. This will be a live event and not scripted. I hope it feels like the two of us are having a conversation in my living room. The Sermon on the Mount is 3 chapters. My plan is to do this a couple of times a month until we get through the text.
6. THE SESSIONS WILL BE RECORDED
So if you can't make it to the live event, you will be able to see the recorded session later.
Scenes from my life
Random shots from my life.
rlp
Keith Snyder's Foreword
Keith Snyder has posted the foreword he wrote for Turtles all the Way Down on his blog. The book actually has a foreword to the foreword, so that I could explain Keith’s rather unusual foreword, which came out of his experience at this retreat. I think it’s a fascinating piece of writing. (In our emails back and forth, I misspelled foreword about every way you can. forward, foreward, and so on. I just couldn’t spell this word. lol)
FOREWORD
by Keith Snyder
to
Turtles All The Way Down
by Gordon Atkinson
The oy gevalts ricochet down the halls of antiquity. My great-great-great-grandfather slaps his forehead and gives me such a look.
"Hey," I respond with a shrug. "What can I say, the guy's not full of dreck."
"Not full of dreck," says the patriarch. "Not full of dreck is a good thing. It's a mitzvah. But communion?"
"Yeah."
![turtles_2[1]](http://reallivepreacher.com/files/turtles_21.png "turtles_2[1]")
What's going on
Monday and Tuesday were killer days. Several project deadlines at Jethro. I’m grateful for the hours but no writing time for me. None. Which is okay, I guess. That’s the way of the world when you’re a working man. I did leave Covenant to clear up some writing time. I think what I’m discovering is that when you’re doing 150% of what you should be doing, cutting out 33% of your life is just getting you back to full.
Anyway, I'm back into a Foy story. I'm working at the library right now. Taking a break to post this. I don’t know when it will be done. Next week sometime I suppose.
As for other things:
Journey:
I had a wonderful time preaching at Journey Imperfect Faith Community last Sunday. I visited David’s office, which was sobering. The people were fantastic. And I got a rare treat. So rare that I’ve only done it once before. At “Bible study” between the services, I got to read some of my writing to everyone. Wow! That was fun. It was kind of an indulgent thing to do on a Sunday, but it was a good thing to do. It really meant a lot to me.
I read “Turtles all the Way Down,” and “Childhood Like a Dream.” We used them as a springboard to talk about the two parts of our faith - mental and physical. The part of faith that involves what you think and believe, and the part of faith that involves what you do with your body.
Enjoyed preaching as well. They are doing gardening as a theme for Lent, so the sermon was on the parable of the wheat and the weeds. Gardening for Lent; that is SO Journey.
5 Sermons
Although I am leaving Covenant, I'm still the youth pastor for the Southwest Baptist Youth Camping Association, of which my church is a part. Our camp is in June. The ministers rotate through this, and this is my year.
It's a challenge, preaching to teenagers. One that I relish! I'm pumped about this. Our theme is "Heroes."
My goal: find the hardest, most heroic things about being a Christian and push the life instead of the dogma.
Today I disappear into my office at the church to get ready for our big planning meeting tomorrow in Fort Worth. I have 5 sermons planned. Going to work on them from now until the end of the day.
see ya,
g
All of my books are for sale though me. I've not had the energy or inclination to send them to Amazon or any other place.
Click here for purchase links at my new blog.