Opportunity America

The Book of Revelations is an interesting narrative. This last book of the Bible is a series of visions of the world yet to come. Just as the Democrats in the U.S. congress must now present their vision and plan to the world, so did the Christians of the second century.

Those Christians envisioned a world free from sickness, death, war, hunger and every other hurting process. This would all happen because of the relationship with Jesus in faith.

This was, of course, a relatively safe message to spread about. Even the Roman government wanted these guarantees for the world. Certainly the early Christians were not trying to pick a fight with the government. So this vision was spread and adopted rather easily.

The great value of this process was in giving the entire community a common vision. The community was and is spared the division of the community into factions wanting many different pieces of Utopia.

Now the vision question for economic development support by the Church in our communities arises again. Do we have a common vision in our community that we can all support and work toward? We need not have the same personal tastes. We do need to have a common vision of the best that we can be together.

What is the status of the vision in your community? Is there a common vision? Can you define it? Is it written some place? Can small children picture it?

Clearly it is the responsibility of the congregation(s) of Christ to lead the community to lay it out and lead the community forward that vision.

Karl Evans


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The Star of the Show

Oh, my goodness!! For several days now America has been locked in a bitter dispute among a few spoiled brats. These children include Barbara Walters and Star Jones What's-Her-Name.

Now, I know these two understand that the whole future of the universe depends on whether or not Star Jones knew or did not know she was to be canned in the fall. A second issue is whether Barbara WaWa was surprised by her Star's announcement.

On the major TV morning shows today, all four made major use of time discussing the matter. NBC appeared to use about half its second thirty minute segment on the matter.

I completely understand the problem, of course. The discussion is important because all the anchors of all the major network news/entertainment shows are bouncing around like little steel balls in a pinball machine. I turned on the tube today, and I had to check the channel numbers to learn which network I was watching. There were only a couple familiar faces.

The problem, then, is that all these anchors and producers and directors are struggling with their personal identity crisis. The snit between Star and WaWa simply serves to bring the crisis to the fore. Where there once was a lock between certain personalities and their networks, now there is a trend to drift casually around the scene.

The odd thing is that no one seems to have the upper hand. Neither network board rooms nor tube faces seem to control any of the situation. Therefore, there is no brand loyalty, either, on anyone's part.

The outcome of all this will be a strange duck, I suspect. The mass confusion will continue for a few weeks, perhaps months. It will reach out and encompass writers and ad agencies and electronics developers. The weavings of the party will look like a ball of rattlesnakes.

But it will eventually sort itself out. The various pieces of the industry will re-develop their own internal loyalties and mutual subserviences. Then things will drift along for some time before the next go-round of child's play. And the tabloids will again have something to print.

old karl

For a better understanding of Karl's warp, you might click on either or both the book links on the right. Some of the book can be read free, online. A full download costs about $7.

Small Rural Churches Can Help Themselves Easily

Yesterday Donella and I drove to Coos Bay for a beautiful outing. As part of the day, I had been invited to lead worship and preach at the Presbyterian Church there. It is a small rural congregation in a seaport and tourist town.

As a rural church, sometimes they find themselves in rough spots. They are trying to find an interim, then a permanent pastor. So in the meantime they are having a series of visiting pastors until the presbytery sends an interim. They are eager to issue a pastoral call, but they know their process may take a year or two.

Now this would not be too bad, except that their last pastor has been gone for some time now. This means that the congregation keeps slowly shrinking. That is not good.

In the United Presbyterian system, there is a database known as the "Opportunity List", accessible through http://clc.pcusa.org/ . In this the congregations and presbyteries around the world can enter their search data.

Then folks looking for posts, interim or whatever, can and should put in their preferences and find any possible spots for application. It is really quite simple.

But there are a couple things I have noticed. First, a lot of UPC congregations and presbyteries simply do not take advantage of this system. I guess they assume the potential pastors they would wish to speak with have the sacred gift of prophecy. They should be able to just know where the potential posts are located, and how to contact them.

Second, many other faith groups refuse to either create such lists, or to make them accessible to any who are not in the tight upper echelons of their own group. What can I say to those who are so non-ecumenically gifted? Nothing, I suppose.

This morning I read an article from Montana speaking of how many small rural congregations in Montana are using lay persons to serve the congregations. While some faith groups have done this for many years, some have resisted the possibilities.

The United Methodist Church has used lay persons widely. However, it has not seen fit to develop an "Opportunity List" for the denomination. Of course, it would be somewhat different, but it could be dean quite easily.

The point I am making, of course, is that there is no excuse for congregations being without pastoral care in any situation. We have thousands of capable lay and ordained clergy ready and willing to serve, if we only have a simple and pleasant means of finding a spot.

So, faith groups, at least put your own "Opportunity List" together, and let the world know about it.

Then, congregations and presbyteries, bishops and district superintendents, make use of it. The lack of pastoral care in any congregation, especially small rural congregations, is a blot on all of us.


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