Thanks to Jeff and Adam for the incredible Ham, egg and mushroom muffins we had this morning. Tasty. I really appreciated our time of sharing and conversation. It was and is an encouragement to me. Here is the link to an article by CJ Mahaney that Rich shared entitled "Happy Pastors." It is both an encouragement and perhaps a gentle challenge to believe for ourselves the stuff we proclaim to others each week.
Blessings on your month until we meet again on Wednesday, November 14th at 8:30 at Green Pastures Presbyterian on 66th and Junett. Who knows we may even wade into the waters of a discussion about the elections.
Grace and Peace,
Ken
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
September Breakfast and Prayer Walk for the Schools
What a great way to begin the Fall. After getting fueled up on donuts and coffee, Rich, Ken, Jeff, John and myself went out (5x5 in this case instead of the 2x2 Jesus sent his disciples) to pray for Manitou Park Elementary, Gray Middle and Mt. Tahoma High. After praying in front of each school we dropped off a letter to the respective principals letting them know who we are, that we'd prayed for their school and offering our help as it may be needed.
I appreciate the chance not only to pray for these schools but also to walk and talk with some co-laborers here in the community. Walking and talking, it seems like I remember something about some folks doing that on the road to Emmaus at some point. Hopefully our eyes were opened in some small or large manner.
The next gathering will be on Wednesday, October 10th at 8:30 at Zion's River where I think we might just get some biscuits and gravy (no pressure Jeff.)
Grace and Peace,
Ken
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
August Breakfast Recap
We gathered at Evangelical Reformed this morning and broke sweet bread and coffee together. Thanks to Rich and John for the good conversation about sabbaticals, sending our kids to college, and what it means to keep the main thing the main thing. Also, thanks for the prayer, which is a whole different kind of food and one that we know our brother Jeff has been receiving while recouping from 'the attack of the blocked gland.' Our prayers are with you brother.
Our next meeting...
1. Meet at Manitou Park Presbyterian (6613 S. Cheyenne) briefly
2. Walk to Manitou Elementary and pray
3. Walk to Gray and pray
4. Walk to Mt. Tahoma and pray
5. Depart or depending on the time, go to lunch together at a local Korean joint of John Kim's choosing.
Rich is going to draft a letter that we might offer to the principals simply letting them know we offered some prayers, inviting them to let us know how we can pray for them in the future, and (this is important and a little risky) asking if there are any other ways our congregations might be of support. Rich would like to include all of the names of the pastors and congregations who plan on attending, so please reply to this e-mail if you plan on joining us. The date is:
Our next meeting...
South Tacoma School Prayers
will be a special one as we will gather to specifically pray for and visit 3 neighborhood schools; Manitou Elementary, Gray Middle and Mt. Tahoma High School. The simple plan is as follows:1. Meet at Manitou Park Presbyterian (6613 S. Cheyenne) briefly
2. Walk to Manitou Elementary and pray
3. Walk to Gray and pray
4. Walk to Mt. Tahoma and pray
5. Depart or depending on the time, go to lunch together at a local Korean joint of John Kim's choosing.
Rich is going to draft a letter that we might offer to the principals simply letting them know we offered some prayers, inviting them to let us know how we can pray for them in the future, and (this is important and a little risky) asking if there are any other ways our congregations might be of support. Rich would like to include all of the names of the pastors and congregations who plan on attending, so please reply to this e-mail if you plan on joining us. The date is:
Wednesday, September 12th at 8:30
Please invite other ministers/churches to join us. The more the better,
Grace and Peace,
Ken
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
June Breakfast
Another South Tacoma Ministers breakfast has come and gone and thanks to Ken Schmidtke's health consciousness, we are none worse for the wear. Thanks for the bananas, yogurt and strawberry's, our arteries are grateful.
Due to time constraints I will keep this recap short. Once again it was good to catch up with one another's lives and pray for one another. In the midst of that, YFC Ken asked the question, "Is this group doing what we'd hoped it would."
In the sense that it is helping each of us feel supported, connected and encouraged in our ministries then the answer was a strong yes. Each of us remain glad to be a part of the group and feel it is worth continuing. Our mission is "As ministers in South Tacoma, we desire to develop trust between one another so that when God presents us with an opportunity or challenge that is uniquely suited for us to collectively engage that we would be united enough to faithfully do so." Our monthly breakfasts have helped us develop trust between one another to the point that we've collaborated on ministry at Gray, presentations from our churches and some marriage ministry stuff. This has all been good. On the other hand...
If the sense that this group is helping to connect the leaders of the 30 some churches in South Tacoma to develop trust that might lead to collaboration then the answer is no. Despite our invitations, the group remains small (which is okay). What to do. Here is the plan for the next 3 months.
July 11 at 11:30 - Lunch at a Korean restaurant with John Kim. Meet at Green Pastures at 11:30
August 15th at 8:30 - Monthly breakfast at Evangelical Reformed
September 11th at 8:30 - Prayer for the schools. We will meet at Manitou at 8:30am for brief breakfast and then head out to pray for Gray, Manitou and Mt. Tahoma. This is an event we want to invite as many ministers in the area to join us in as possible. So we'll start working toward this now. Please post any ideas you have regarding this in the comments section below.
Grace and Peace,
Ken
Due to time constraints I will keep this recap short. Once again it was good to catch up with one another's lives and pray for one another. In the midst of that, YFC Ken asked the question, "Is this group doing what we'd hoped it would."
In the sense that it is helping each of us feel supported, connected and encouraged in our ministries then the answer was a strong yes. Each of us remain glad to be a part of the group and feel it is worth continuing. Our mission is "As ministers in South Tacoma, we desire to develop trust between one another so that when God presents us with an opportunity or challenge that is uniquely suited for us to collectively engage that we would be united enough to faithfully do so." Our monthly breakfasts have helped us develop trust between one another to the point that we've collaborated on ministry at Gray, presentations from our churches and some marriage ministry stuff. This has all been good. On the other hand...
If the sense that this group is helping to connect the leaders of the 30 some churches in South Tacoma to develop trust that might lead to collaboration then the answer is no. Despite our invitations, the group remains small (which is okay). What to do. Here is the plan for the next 3 months.
July 11 at 11:30 - Lunch at a Korean restaurant with John Kim. Meet at Green Pastures at 11:30
August 15th at 8:30 - Monthly breakfast at Evangelical Reformed
September 11th at 8:30 - Prayer for the schools. We will meet at Manitou at 8:30am for brief breakfast and then head out to pray for Gray, Manitou and Mt. Tahoma. This is an event we want to invite as many ministers in the area to join us in as possible. So we'll start working toward this now. Please post any ideas you have regarding this in the comments section below.
Grace and Peace,
Ken
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
May Breakfast
Ain't nuthin like a red bean pastry to get ya going in the morning. Big thanks to John for hosting this morning. I always look forward to the unique and tasty treats we'll find on the table. I'm also already looking forward to lunch at HoSoonYi (or wherever we end up).
We had a good conversation around the question, "What is the best way to parent PKs? (preacher's kids)" You'll have to wait for the book to come out to hear our answers as I think we had some pretty good collective wisdom. Thanks for the conversation.
Our next breakfast is set for Wednesday, June 13th at 8:30 at the Youth For Christ office on Center Street. Ken, you can thank Adam for signing you up. It was great to have Adam with us this morning as he moves deeper into his role of Campus Life/Chaplain at Gray Middle School.
Shaloma in South Tacoma,
Ken
We had a good conversation around the question, "What is the best way to parent PKs? (preacher's kids)" You'll have to wait for the book to come out to hear our answers as I think we had some pretty good collective wisdom. Thanks for the conversation.
Our next breakfast is set for Wednesday, June 13th at 8:30 at the Youth For Christ office on Center Street. Ken, you can thank Adam for signing you up. It was great to have Adam with us this morning as he moves deeper into his role of Campus Life/Chaplain at Gray Middle School.
Shaloma in South Tacoma,
Ken
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
April breakfast
Sorry I missed this one, but I heard things went well. Apparently I missed biscuits/gravy and some conversation about politics and the church. Hmm, too tasty things that have the potential for heartburn. Glad to hear it went well.
Our next gathering is set for Wednesday, May 9th at 8:30 at Green Pastures Church.
See you then if not before,
Ken
Our next gathering is set for Wednesday, May 9th at 8:30 at Green Pastures Church.
See you then if not before,
Ken
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
March Breakfast - Church With
Friends,
Good breakfast. I hope that the nutrition of the apples and bananas balances out the sugars of the fritters and maple bars. Then again, the fritters were made with apples and the bars with maple syrup and those are both natural so they must be good, right?
It was good for John, Rich, Ken and myself to get together and check-in with one another. If for no other reason than to just be reminded that we are not alone in this endeavor, then I still think the breakfasts are worth it. As usual we did a little update with one another which ended up focusing most on our kids; health, growing up, daffodilium and the expense of college (may that bubble burst soon).
We spent the second half of our time in a really good discussion on the Christianity Today article "Church-With: Small churches find their future in neighborhood renewal." I really appreciated the questions, discussion and interest. I agree with Rich that the Rosewood community does have a lot of similarities with South Tacoma; high rental rate, few gathering places, struggle with communal identity... I also agree with YFC Ken that one of the hopes is for neighbors to get to know neighbors; to build healthy relationships. South Tacoma is a big space to try and do that (13 square miles) unlike the hilltop or fircrest. However, we do have smaller neighborhoods that compose that larger area; manitou, oakland/madrona, edison and arlington each of which used to have their own identity. We concluded by discussing the STAR center and its potential role in building community. The jury is still out on this one, let's hope it does.
Though we didn't come to any conclusions or action steps (which was not really the goal), i feel like we raised some good questions that I'll try to list here:
1. Are their resident leaders in the neighborhoods who could use a little encouragement?
2. Does it take great anger or great hope to motivate resident leaders? If so, what might be the source of that anger? The object of that hope?
3. Is there a role in community development for churches whose building is in South Tacoma but members aren't?
4. Do we serve congregations that might be willing to invest (time, talents & treasures) in something that we would not own (like the Rosewood Cafe)?
5. Is there anything God is calling us, the South Tacoma Ministers, to do next?
Our next breakfast is set for Wednesday, April 11th at 8:30 at Celebration Christian Fellowship where a recently tanned Jeff will likely be fixing some mean biscuits and gravy. Yum.
Peace, Ken
Good breakfast. I hope that the nutrition of the apples and bananas balances out the sugars of the fritters and maple bars. Then again, the fritters were made with apples and the bars with maple syrup and those are both natural so they must be good, right?
It was good for John, Rich, Ken and myself to get together and check-in with one another. If for no other reason than to just be reminded that we are not alone in this endeavor, then I still think the breakfasts are worth it. As usual we did a little update with one another which ended up focusing most on our kids; health, growing up, daffodilium and the expense of college (may that bubble burst soon).
We spent the second half of our time in a really good discussion on the Christianity Today article "Church-With: Small churches find their future in neighborhood renewal." I really appreciated the questions, discussion and interest. I agree with Rich that the Rosewood community does have a lot of similarities with South Tacoma; high rental rate, few gathering places, struggle with communal identity... I also agree with YFC Ken that one of the hopes is for neighbors to get to know neighbors; to build healthy relationships. South Tacoma is a big space to try and do that (13 square miles) unlike the hilltop or fircrest. However, we do have smaller neighborhoods that compose that larger area; manitou, oakland/madrona, edison and arlington each of which used to have their own identity. We concluded by discussing the STAR center and its potential role in building community. The jury is still out on this one, let's hope it does.
Though we didn't come to any conclusions or action steps (which was not really the goal), i feel like we raised some good questions that I'll try to list here:
1. Are their resident leaders in the neighborhoods who could use a little encouragement?
2. Does it take great anger or great hope to motivate resident leaders? If so, what might be the source of that anger? The object of that hope?
3. Is there a role in community development for churches whose building is in South Tacoma but members aren't?
4. Do we serve congregations that might be willing to invest (time, talents & treasures) in something that we would not own (like the Rosewood Cafe)?
5. Is there anything God is calling us, the South Tacoma Ministers, to do next?
Our next breakfast is set for Wednesday, April 11th at 8:30 at Celebration Christian Fellowship where a recently tanned Jeff will likely be fixing some mean biscuits and gravy. Yum.
Peace, Ken
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