Say hello to my new blog, Open the Doors: The Ministry of Welcome.  It will be my professional blog for my work as the new Welcome Ministry Coordinator for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta.

Making Chutney will continue here as my cranky “persona blog,” albeit less frequently.  (Blog time, which is in much shorter supply now, is now being spent on two sites.)

So please check it out and drop me a line there.

WordPress maven Lorelle gives some detailed and good advice. The gist? Blogging isn’t for everyone, and everyone doesn’t need to blog.

Here’s what I’ve been up to during my first two weeks on the job.

Moved into office, shelved books, and installed my Ikea chalice, Ganesh statue, and Buddy Jesus and Robin action figures. MCed two events and gave one speech. Wrote three drafts of my goals for the year. Led one small group session. Started to learn PowerChurch. Attended two staff meetings, one lunch meeting, and at least half a dozen one on one meetings. Wrote, read, or returned at least two hundred emails. Read one book and three thick reports. Shook hands with close to one hundred people. Glowered at a foot or two of my predecessors’ files. Bought two bags of ice. Killed one mouse and disposed of two.

And I’m having the time of my life.

I grew up a charismatic, fundamentalist, evangelical United Methodist. We fashioned ourselves a lonely remnant trying to keep true faith alive among the frozen chosen.

So if we wanted to be around other charismatics, we had to make field trips. Whenever our televangelist heroes came into town, we would carpool out to the megachurches. At the end of every service would be the altar call, and at every altar call there would be prayers for healing.

We learned tricks we could use to help people make those first baby steps of faith. I can tell you how to heal someone when one leg is shorter than the other. (You pull on their leg.) I can tell you how to make reluctant first timers fall out in the spirit. (Push down on their head.)

Lots of folks went home believing they were healed. For at least 99% of them, the placebo effect would wear off in a couple of days or a couple of weeks. I can explain all that now: there were reasons they believed they were healed, there were reasons they weren’t healed, and there were reasons why we kept praying for healing, week after week. Click to continue reading “Faith healing that works”

Hats off to Kinsi for his hat tip to our congregation’s small group ministry program. If you’ve been thinking about joining a small group, or starting one, it’s well worth the read.

Does anyone know of any blogs by or for membership or welcoming ministry coordinators? (Of any faith tradition.)