Tim Postuma

Henry,

Come on....that was barely half a toot.

A full toot of the horn should really include a link so we can read the sample chapter and, of course, buy! Let me help you out:

http://www.faithaliveresources.org/Products/155303/christian-reformed-church-order-commentary.aspx

This may not reach mass-market status with an interview by Oprah, distribution through Costco, and the rest. Not to shatter any dreams, of course.

But Christian Reformed pastors, elders, and entire congregations are in debt to you for putting this all down. And to Faith Alive for publishing it. Thank you.

Great question and topic, Craig. I've been thinking about this too, and eager to hear from others about it.

It seems like a core question is - what's the purpose(s) of a small group? If it's to support each other through the ups and downs of life, that would lend itself to long-standing groups and deep relationships. But if the purpose is to welcome and enfold new members and new Christians, then multiplications seems critical. 

In my own small group experience, we're trying to doing both. And it does lead to some real discernment every year when we talk about plans for the next year, who will be continuing, whether to split, whether to invite new members, etc.

I don't have an answer, unfortunately, but my observation is that the question is really one of 'what's our small group about?'. 

Other experiences and observations?

For me, one of the most compelling arguments I've heard for a hymnal is that we should have a 'core' set of songs that are well known across our churches and those from other denominations.

Why does that resonate with me?

My wife is a chaplain in a long-term care setting with people from a wide variety of faith backgrounds. She has amazing testimonies of what happens when she is able to sing a familiar hymn or song with them. I saw the same thing when, as a kid, my parents would drag me along whenever a few from our church would go to a similar facility to 'sing with the seniors'. Music taps into something so deep, so powerful that people who are barely able to communicate are somehow able to hum or even sing along.

Personally, I love contemporary music styles. But I sure hope that there's still a 'core' set of songs that is learned by my kids, kids from other denominations, and those who will may minister to them throughout their lives. I think a denominational hymnal - or, in this case, a bi-denominational one - helps that.

Now you've got me thinking...is a hymnal a format (i.e. book) or a 'core collection' (available in many formats)?

If the latter, how does a collection of songs remain 'core' over a long period of time within a church? Or a denomination? Or inter-denominationally?

In other words, would 'Amazing Grace' be as universally loved if it weren't for hymn books? Obviously, I've got more questions than answers!

Interesting question! Does anyone know whether the same is true for debit cards?

As for credit cards, I use mine as an alternative to carrying cash but now you've got me thinking. Plus the more I learn about the industry's practices the more horrified I become.

It would be great if there was an ethical alternative to the biggies - one that still gives the convenience but encourages responsible financial behavior. Impossible?

Colin - Maybe try a different browser. We've got about 125+ people online now so it seems like an issue with your local system. You could also try the channel page here.

Mavis - Sorry for the delayed response - it's been really busy. All the archives are online now. Let me know if you have any questions.

Nice to hear. Thanks, Keith.

We've actually had a similar inquiry from another denomination. Since the platform we're using is open-source, it could be possible to share the codebase as well as the ongoing development costs of adding new features, etc. Not trivial to do and it would require a serious commitment, but it sure beats all of us building similar tools from scratch. Have them contact me via PM if interested.

@Dave

re: RCA's general synod blog - Hmmm...this has really got me thinking. This year for the first time we had the Synod 2011 blog on The Network. But we could expand that to several bloggers. I'd want to index them by topic/report so you could see all the posts on Form of Subscription, etc as the RCA one seems a bit too unwieldy without that organization. Originally, we thought this forum could serve that purpose but a blog has a different feel than an open forum. Nice idea.

re: daily notebooks - Those are archived here but we didn't provide an easy way to get to the back issues. It's was a new thing so we'll work out those kinks for next year. Good feedback - thanks.

re: news/feedback for delegates - I don't know what kind of news they get during the week - but they certainly have a mechanism to inform delegates (e.g. announcements before each session) or for delegates to inform each other if it's relevant to an issue being discussed.

@Bev

re: Moses Chung clip - To get more of the pre-amble, you can pull up the full video for that session and then cue it up at the part where you'd like to start.

@everyone

Thanks for the feedback! Keep it coming.

Great news, folks. Google has changed their eligibility guidelines and churches may again apply for the non-profit version of Google Apps!

Some links:

• blog post about it
• Google employee's post in discussion forum
• new eligibility guidelines

Enjoy, and spread the word!

Unfortunately, Canadian nonprofits still can't apply for this. Hope they change that soon! But in the meantime, you can still get started with their regular free version or their $60/user/year paid version.

Christianity Today just posted a story about this - Google Cuts Churches Out of Non-Profit Program

Matt Branaugh's reporting answered some of the questions I had (especially the part about existing churches getting grandfathered in). BTW, the reason I was quoted was because he saw this discussion on The Network. Cool, eh?

Here's a followup story Christianity Today just posted this morning about it.