Monday, July 30, 2007

Thank You!


Thank you so much to everyone who participated in creating flood buckets for the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Thank you to those of you who gave supplies and money and to everyone who came out yesterday to put them all together. A big thanks as well to everyone who drove around looking for buckets and buying bulk supplies. This was a huge effort!
We currently have about 70 ready to go and 30 more that are missing some odds and ends.
I will keep you up to date on their status and let you know when they are off and on their way to be in ministry.
peace,
will

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Almost Time to Pack Them!


Sorry I haven't posted an update on supplies, but they continue to come in. I believe we only need about 15 additional empty buckets but we still need a ton of supplies. Many of you have been very generous with cash donations so Lisa will be heading out shopping tomorrow.

Thank you to Lisa, Shirley and Jon for scrubbing and rinsing all the buckets to make them smell less like whatever was in them before.

If you are planning on donating supplies, please let me know by tomorrow so Lisa doesn't buy any more than we need.

Please join us Sunday at 3:30 in the fellowship hall. We need lots of help sorting and packing. It takes some time to get the buckets packed right. If we just throw everything in they won't close and UMCOR needs them sealed. Come help us out and enjoy some homemade ice cream!

peace,

will

Monday, July 23, 2007

Another Update... A Little Different

We are getting close to our deadline for packing buckets and a few people have asked that I change the progress report a little bit. We have 5 complete buckets plus a lot of other bulk supplies. The question is, what do we most need?

Here it is:

If the size we need is not availabe, go DOWN to the next available size. Otherwise the buckets cannot be sealed and UMCOR cannot store them.

Bleach - We only have two bottles. These need to be a very specific size to fit in the buckets. For each bucket we either need two (2) one quart bottles or one (1) 82 oz. bottle. So we basically either need 188 quart bottles or 94 82 oz. bottles.

Cleaning Towels (reusable wipes) - There need to be 18 in each buckets. We need about 162 of these. They usually come in packs.

Liquid Laundry Detergent - This is another one where size is key. We must have two (2) 25 oz. or one (1) 50 oz. Either way we need about 93 buckets worth, either 186 25 oz. bottles or 95 50 oz.

Dust Masks - Each bucket needs 5. We already have 125, but we still need about 350.

If you can help, it helps if you can email me or call me (242-3333 ext. 204) so we know what's coming. We have had some generous donations of cash so we will be buying supplies later in the week and would like to know what we will already have.

Thanks for all your generosity.

peace,

will

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Flood Bucket Update

Empty Buckets - 60
Complete Buckets - 5
Cash - $240
Work Gloves - 36 Pair
Dust Masks - 110
Bug Spray - 12
Disinfectant Dish Soap - 6
Bleach - 3
Clothesline - 1
Sponges - 8

peace,

will

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Sticky Stuff

This is one of the best books I have read in a while. In Chip and Dan Heath's Made to Stick the authors tackle the question of why some ideas survive and others die. This book should be mandatory reading for anyone who has to get a message through in a world of messages (like pastors). Ever wonder why people can remember vivid details of urban legends that they read on the internet (and aren't true) but can't remember even the subject of Sunday's sermon or the training session you gave at the office? Why do most of us still remember Wendy's "Where's the Beef?" campaign while we have forgotten about a million commercials we have seen sense? The Heath brothers assert that it is because some ideas are "sticky" and others aren't.

For an idea to stick in the minds of viewers and listeners it must have as many of these qualities as possible:

  • Simplicity
  • Unexpectedness
  • Concreteness
  • Credibility
  • Emotional
  • Stories

The first letters spell success... really cheesy, but it works. Check it out if you want people to remember what you are communicating.

Happy reading!

peace,

will

Monday, July 16, 2007

Cash always helps

I just want to update the cash portion of our flood bucket progress. Through our communion rail offering yesterday and another donation that just came in we are now about $857.00. That will go a long way to helping by all the last minute things we will need when we get ready to pack the buckets. Don't think we are done yet! We still have a lot of supplies yet to get!

peace,

will

Keep it Coming!

Some more supplies welcomed me back to Corpus Christi this morning.

Here is our new tally (Everything listed is either here or someone has made a commitment to provide it.)

Empty Buckets - 36
Complete Buckets - 2
Cash - $240
Work Gloves - 36 Pair
Dust Masks - 110
Bug Spray - 12
Disinfectant Dish Soap - 6

I really think we can reach our goal. Remember to join us July 29th at 3:30 to share ice cream and fellowship and then help us pack these buckets and get them ready to ship.

peace,

will

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Flood Buck Update from My Secret Location

I am off this weekend, but through the power of a global internet, I can still give you a flood bucket update:

Empty Buckets - 26
Complete Buckets - 2
Cash - $240
Work Gloves - 36 Pair
Dust Masks - 60

Keep it coming!

will

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Keep those buckets coming

Last night we recieved 7 more five-gallon plastic buckets.

Here is the new tally:

Empty Buckets - 26
Complete Buckets - 2
Cash - $140

As those buckets come in, we need to start thinking about filling them. Here are some cheap and easy ideas. If we fill 100 buckets, we will need 700 sponges. How about committing to all or part of that? Or how about some of the 500 dust masks we will need. Or maybe you would like to buy a bulk pack of clothes pins. We will need 5000 total.

Email me and let me know if you are ready to committ to something or just bring it by the church.

peace,

will

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Another Flood Bucket Update

As of right now, here is the new tally:

Empty Buckets - 19
Complete Buckets - 2
Cash - $140

Someone has also just committed an undisclosed number of buckets that they are bringing this evening. I will let you know how many.

I have also just added a link for flood buckets on the right. Click that and you can download a PDF file with everything we need.

peace,

will

Flood Bucket Update

So far I have received 3 more buckets, $40 and a commitment for 2 complete buckets. Here is a grand tally:

Empty Buckets - 19
Complete Buckets - 2
Cash - $40

I would love to have 81 empty buckets by the end of the weeks so we can get to work filling them!

peace,

will

Monday, July 09, 2007

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Flood Buckets: More Ways to Help

If you would like to help us meet our goal of providing 100 flood buckets to The United Methodist Committee on Relief, all the information and instructions can be downloaded here:

http://www.ccgrace.org/downloads/floodbucket.pdf

What we would like most is bulk donations of items. So instead of putting together a bucket yourself, bring us whatever you can, 10 pairs of work gloves or a box of sponges or a case of dust masks, whatever you can. Please read instructions carefully. These buckets are very specifically equipped. If they are wrong, UMCOR has to take them apart and repack them.

peace,

will

Flood Bucket Update

We just received 16 five-gallon buckets with lids. Keep them coming!

peace,

will

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Can You Spare a Bucket?

In the past, we have assembled flood buckets for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). You can learn more by searching "flood bucket" in the search bar on the top of the weblog.

As you could probably have guessed, UMCOR is running out of buckets. I would like to get some people together to make some more. The last time we did this, someone generously donated a whole bunch of 5 gallon buckets with lids. We have to have 5 gallon buckets with lids and they are pretty pricey to buy. So, if you have some or can get some, please let us have them. I would be quite willing to pick up if you can't deliver. Call the church or email me at pastorwillrice@gmail.com.

If you would like to help but don't have buckets, stay tuned. We will need a lot more stuff.

peace,

will

Monday, July 02, 2007

Continuing the Conversation

A lot of people have spoken to me about the pastor's column in this week's newsletter. (Read it online here.) It deals with the critical issue of the absence of young adults in our churches. To continue the conversation, I wanted to repost a comments that was posted in response to a follow up I wrote (Still Thinking about Young People.)

peter said...

have you read the cover story of the (i think) most recent interpreter on youth/ young adults and the UMC? it is a pretty interesting read, but they seem to think that the trends and ideas hold true everywhere, when i know that some aren't true for myself or some of my fellow young adults on track for ordination or a larger role in the church...but i guess that it is aimed at drawing them into the church not continuing ministry to those of us who have been active for years. it is well worth the read though.

peace,

peter

Peter makes a really important point. Although we group young adults together statistically as we look at who is missing from our churches, we have to be carefully about thinking that all young adults are the same and need the same sort of ministry.

With the risk of continuing to oversimplify, I want to offer at least five different situations young adults may be in in relation to the church. This is not to say that all young adults fall neatly into any of these groupings, this is just an attempt to see the complexity of the situation. Here are the five groups:

1. Unchurched - Young adults with little or no contact with the church. Possibly the children of unchurched parents or parents who never took their kids to church.

2. Formerly Churched - Young adults who were involved and possibly even active younger in life but have fallen away from the church for one reason of another.

3. New Christians - People who have become active in the Christian faith as young adults.

4. Continual Christians - (If I ever publish something on this, I may need a new title) - This may be the smallest group. These are young adults like Peter who grew up in the church and stayed. In my experience, a number of these people are considering a call to ministry or leadership in the church.

5. On the Edgers - These are people who may have grown up in the church but, in their young adults years, are living on the edge of church. They haven't abandoned it yet, but they are less and less active and may eventually leave. This is the group that parents talk to me the most about.

This list came to me this morning and at the time only had three groups. It may be a helpful model to think about who were are trying to reach with ministries. Ministries that reach out to the "Unchurched" group may do nothing for "On the Edgers" who have all that church experience (good and bad) that they bring to the table. I have noticed in many conversations that "Continual Christians" are often annoyed by ministries targeting to the "Unchurched" group are even more annoyed when people expect them to like it because they are young.

That's all I am going to write because I would love to hear your thoughts.

peace,

will

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Wouldn't a weekend at home be nice?

After my trip to Arkansas last weekend, I would have liked a nice weekend around the house to mow the lawn and nap. However, that wasn't in the cards. Alisha, Josh and I all travelled to San Antonio for the annual Methodist Children's Home Foster Family Retreat. They do this every year to get all the foster families together. What makes it really wonderful is that all foster parents are required to complete a certain number of continuing education hours every year and at the retreat they provide an opportunity to complete most of the required hours all with free child care. Alisha was able to update her first-aid and CPR and I was finally able to complete mine. Plus we learned about disaster preparedness and helping foster kids deal with transition.

This would be a good time to remind you that we always need more foster families. If you want to know more, let me know.

peace,

will