Trena Boonstra
Almost life-long member of the CRC. Currently at Crossroads CRC, San Marcos, Calif. (San Diego area).
I'm the church librarian and past Deacon.
Retired school librarian and teacher--now finding lots of volunteer activites between travels to and visits from our children and grandchildren--who all live in the EST zone.
Posted in: What Advice Can You Offer a Church New to Stephen Ministry?
Neil,
Yes, I would like to communicate with the person in charge. Sorry it has taken so long to respond. I signed up for the NetWork, but haven't gotten in the habit of checking what's going on.
Bob,
Yes, you are right, the Leaders' training is long (a whole week) and to be honest, I think it could be condensed. But it is thorough and some of their people are great. The training we then did at our church was also long--20 weeks of 2 1/2 hr sessions per week with at times considerable pre reading at home. If you go to the Leader's training, be sure to spend some serious time finding out how SM actually works in various congregations.
I think that every church that participates in SM needs to hear the whole story, but then figure out how it actully fleshes out in your congregation. I think that the biggest obstacle we have is communicating the value of the support to the people and having people be willing to be vulnerable to open up to someone.
Trena
Posted in: Where Are the Women at Synod?
It would be helpful in responding to this to know how many women are delegated this year. And was it necessary to implement the role of Women Advisers for Synod 2106?
I was at Synod twice as a Deacon Adviser. It was a challenging and very worthwhile experience. I did not feel as the woman quoted in the report about Synod 2015 that it was an "old boys club" atmosphere--at least not anymore for the women than for the men who found themselves in this setting for the first time; I had a conversation with several men about this very topic. Each Synod has a significant percentage of first time delegates. And for all it is a learning experience--kind of by the end of the week you understand the rhythm and the ropes--and then it's over.
At classis this spring, I did try to encourage a couple of women deacons to make themselves available. They said no. For them being a deacon was relatively new. Coming to classis was even newer. Thinking that they might go to Synod was really new. For some of the people of ethnic diversity at classis, I think some of the same steps were being felt--each step was new, how many did they dare to take. It takes time.
But I noticed that even the men who were in the majority at classis and for the most part had much more experience in denominational roles weren't exactly jumping up and down to volunteer either. There were many qualifiers uttered as the roll was taken and the question of availability for Synod was asked.
It is hard work preparing for Synod. It is hard work being there. We trust that it is God's work we are doing.
Posted in: Why the Church Should Pay Attention to the DOD Task Force
Staci,
I thought I submitted a response yesterday. But now I don't see it. What happened to it?
Trena
Posted in: Why the Church Should Pay Attention to the DOD Task Force
Kris,
I don't think that the concerns expressed suggest that there should be a table of pros and cons with a tally sheet included to make sure that for every negative a positive is presented. Your question makes light of serious concerns the readers have.
What seems clearly to be missing as evidenced in part by the responses coming from the Rehoboth and Zuni church councils is that the circles of conversation did not invite some major components of the CRC mission efforts to participate. If the DOD was to be connected to the CRC work anywhere, then CRC participants from those tribes should be part of the circles. The real story of the CRC mission impact specifically in the Navajo and Zuni tribes of the American scene was not heard but blame was placed in part as guilt by association.
I am not saying at all that the report's evidence from the past isn't true and regrettable. But in many ways that has been addressed in the present by the forgiveness exercise at Rehoboth's anniversary as mentioned by another respondent. And it has seriously been addressed by the actions of both campuses and ministries in modern times. The leadership of both missions and the content of curriculum now reflects local leadership, culture, and expressions of Christianity. That, by my estimation, is the best evidence of acknowledging that the past is now past.
Another difficulty I have with the report is the equating of the Canadian and US experiences and the implied ties to the CRC.
Trena Boonstra
Posted in: Linda Wins a Mug for Her First Comment — and Our 1,000th!
Congratulations, Linda.
Rebecca--how shall we continue the challenge? Those mugs do look nice on the mug rack at church.
Posted in: Any Librarians Here?
Hi,
I'm Trena Boonstra at Crossroads CRC in San Marcos, CA. I started a book sharing book case and eventually actually made it into a lending library. We have a beautiful combination BookStore/Library cart in the foyer and a small library room in a nearby building. It is all self serve. I have in the last years been cataloging all our books and adding pockets/cards. But my catalog is entirely on a computer which is not in the library so not accessible right now to patrons. Most of our books, audio books, etc are donated.
I need to enlist someone else to help. I am also wondering what automation programs others are using. Right now I have a library program put together by an individual in a neighboring church. Not sure yet how flexible it is in adding patrons and a scanner--so far asking for $$ for that doesn't seem appropriate.
I also need to find time to review and promote individual titles