Jesus didn’t say “put down your nets and come to a committee meeting”. Honoring the vocational gifts of time and nurturing the spiritual well being of every member of each church board is a calling of the church. “How?” one may ask. “We have a very hard time getting members to commit to church boards.” Perhaps it is because there is a level of frustration and even disillusionment as members of a congregation experience their term on a church board. New members to the church who hope that a church board term will provide them a way to broaden and deepen their faith are disappointed. What they generally encounter is “business as usual”. Board membership becomes life draining not life giving.

How do we come up with the date for Easter each year and other interesting Easter facts. 1. How do we come up with the date for Easter? Easter is observed by the churches of the West on the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or following the spring equinox (March 21st). So Easter became a "movable" feast which can occur as early as March 22nd or as late as April 25th.

Amazing Grace – A movie film produced by Ingenious Film Partners 2 LLP on behalf of Walden Media, LLC Be sure to see the new movie Amazing Grace, which tells the story of William Wilberforce, John Newton, and the overcoming of the slave trade in Britain. It is a very well done production about eradicating this immoral practice from the world. Wilberforce, born in 1759, was an abolitionist for much of his adult life and helped bring about the end of the slave trade in the British Empire and then slavery itself. He was a deeply faithful Christian and social conservative who rallied for animal rights and against trade unions as well. He devoted his entire life to social reform.

In Youth Ministry circles, we often talk about the value and importance of creating a Youth Ministry Covenant and/or a Mission Statement. The former I usually think of as an agreement written primarily by the youth and their advisors to shape and govern their life together while the latter may be initiated and written by the Board of Committee seeking to start or re-define the purpose of their youth ministry program. Recently I started doing ministry in a new setting. I wanted to explain my personal vision of Youth Ministry to the advisors and Committees with whom I was working. I saw it as an opportunity for them to see “where I am coming from” and hopefully get them thinking about their hopes and dream for the program as well. However, the assignment became far more personal than I had imagined. I found myself deeply and prayerfully engaged in the process. The exercise clarified for me what my deepest held values were. Now I feel, that I have articulated a vision to which I must hold myself accountable.