Tim Postuma
I serve the CRC in two operational roles - co-director of Ministry Support Services, and Operations Team Leader for Thrive. Both roles are dedicated to supporting CRC staff as they equip you and your church!
I grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba - go, Jets - but now live in Grand Rapids, MI (much to my surprise). My wife is a CRC chaplain and we have three grown kids. We spend most of our vacations visiting family members spread across the continent - Calgary, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, St Catharines, Montreal, and Washington DC.
Posted in: Future of crcna.org/Network
You wrote:
The category that you label as Native Americans does not compute here.
Actually, the network is called "Native American - First Nations Churches" which was an attempt to acknowledge exactly the point you made :-)
To your broader point, as someone who has spent plenty of time on both sides of the border I agree that there are distinct differences. But there are also distinct differences between churches by region, size of church, urban/rural/suburban, ministry passion, etc.
I'm sure these differences will play out in conversations across all the networks. At times it will be a challenge, no doubt, but it's also an opportunity to learn from each other. I think that's one of the great things about making this a CRCNA-wide conversation instead of separate US and CDN conversations.
Posted in: Thread Feeds?
Great suggestion, Chad. We did some checking on this and it should be very possible. We'll add it to the roadmap. Hopefully we can get it done in the next few weeks, depending on what we run into. Thanks! Keep the feedback coming.
Posted in: What Should Be Added to This Network?
Randy,
Thanks for joining The Network.
Sheri (the Church Admin Guide) has assembled a wide variety of resources like this, including 14 sample job descriptions. You can read her post about the listing and then follow the link she provides.
Hope this helps. If so, please help spread the word about The Network!
Tim
Posted in: What Should Be Added to This Network?
re: Captcha - Good question, Randy, and one that has me wondering if we should revisit that. I've posted an explanation here that asks for input. Thanks for the feedback!
Posted in: Future of crcna.org/Network
Great question. At this point, I can't see rolling the two sites together because the overlap is fairly small. But I do think the Network site provides a new, more social way to discover and access resources that are housed elsewhere on CRCNA.org.
Having said that, there may be certain situations where the Network eliminates the need for a more traditional 'site'. For example, there's a Faith Formation website that was set up a couple of years ago and, now, a discussion network. The two complement each other nicely, but the next time a situation like that arises it could be that a guided network would be a nice all-in-one solution.
Other thoughts about the connection between the Network and other CRCNA sites?
Posted in: Overtures 3 & 4: Laying Out the Debate
A good reminder, Julia. Thank you. I think we always need to watch:
- What We Discuss - This is a good and important topic to discuss, and completely appropriate for the Synod blog. But, as you point out, we should get as excited about discussing other ministry topics on this site and elsewhere.
- How We Discuss - A surprisingly large number of people watch these discussions (this page has had well over 1,000 views in the first 3 days). General comments like this posted yesterday on Twitter always give me pause, depress me a bit, and then re-convict me on the importance of making the conversation itself a positive witness.
I don't say this as a critique of this particular discussion - which, at least from the portions I've read, I think has been pretty good. I say it as encouragement to keep this discussion going, keep it healthy, and then cruise over to other important ministry topics and discuss them too.
Posted in: Overtures 3 & 4: Laying Out the Debate
Note that the Twitter comments weren't about this thread specifically, but a general reference to comments posted on The Banner and The Network. It's easy to find examples that could fit that perception, and hopefully even easier to find ones that could refute it. But that's not the point. To me, it's a reminder that people are reading and forming opinions based on how we talk with each other, and what we talk about. So let's keep doing it as well as we can.
Posted in: Major Upgrade to The Network Coming Soon
We'll have 'save draft' functionality for posts, but I don't think we can do that for comments. But I'll check again. Thanks for the suggestion.
Posted in: U.S. Health Care Reform
Good suggestion, John. We've altered the headline accordingly.
Posted in: More than Our Need to Be Right
Thank you, Chris, for this wisdom and for expressing it so well.
Posted in: Picking A Website Template
Those look good. Perfect timing, as my church is looking at making a change. Thanks for the blog post, and for this particular lead.
Posted in: What is a Reformed Charismatic?
Hi Jan,
As you may already know, TULIP is associated with Reformed theology. If you would like to find a church with those beliefs, here are a couple of links that can help:
Find a Christian Reformed Church (CRC)
Find a Reformed Church in America (RCA) Church
..or you can also look for churches in the "Presbyterian" tradition. If you want to read a bit more about a Reformed worldview, you can see this section on the CRC's 'Reformed accent'.
I hope these links help you find a church home. In fact, many will have Thanksgiving services tomorrow. Maybe call ahead or check their website for times, and then join other Christians in worship tomorrow morning!