Category: tapestry

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q 2009

Noah.jpg
i’m presently in austin waiting for the q conference to begin tomorrow morning. i left this morning and rushed through the minneapolis airport to just barely make my connecting flight – i literally had to get someone to unlock the door and get a counter worker to check me in because everyone else had already been boarded.

anyhow i heard tapestry was wonderful tonight. pam bragged on mike’s preaching and how all the threads pulled together to make everything happen. as a dad i was pretty proud of my boys jumping in and taking care of things. adam did all the computer stuff by himself and then pam sent me the above photo. turns out that noah played the djembe for the band tonight. this makes me sorry i missed it.

for anyone who is interested i will tweet the conference over the next couple of days.

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cocktail kits?

does anyone have any experience with cocktail drum kits? i am considering one for tapestry. sarah, our drummer, has been playing the djembe for tapestry and has been doing a great job. we’ve been talking about moving up to a drum kit for a fuller sound but portability, band size, and the feel of a full kit have been running through my mind. therefore, i was thinking about a cocktail kit. i’m considering one because they would fit in with the simple feel of tapestry and i think they are probably vey portable. i also think they are pretty interesting just because they are different. the problem is that i have no personal experience with them and thus can’t make a very good call on it. sarah is going to try one out this week and obviously her experience will make the final call but i’m still looking for a little input.

so i’m looking for any input that anyone may have to offer. does anyone know anything about them? are they a good alternative or are they cheesy and stupid?

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resurrection continues

yesterday i tweeted that i was at the hope center painting with a wonderful group of threads (aka people from tapestry). a friend from nobts tweeted back that tapestry sounds like a really cool group. it makes me proud to be associated with them. i was proud before my friend pointed out how cool all the threads are but it’s nice to know that other people recognize it too. anyhow we finished another room at the hope center and a 6th room is now just in need of touch up work. woohoo!

SIDE NOTE – tuesday we did our “film & theology” thing. as a part of it we had screens on the side of the movie screen that displayed the tweets of the people there. it was kind of cool and more people have expressed interest in doing it the next time we do a “film & theology” thing. i liked it so much that i am going to try it a tapestry gathering some time in the near future. as a part of the prep for the night i posted on a couple of blogs. one of those blogs belongs to john volez. through a timelines that i don’t know john was contacted a reporter for time, interviewed, and then asked for other people who had contacted him. that’s how i ended up being contacted and interviewed last night. apparently the article will be on time.com sometime in the near future. i find this all pretty weird but funny also.

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the journal

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at tapestry on sundays we have a journaling station set up in the back of the room for people to write down their thoughts, prayers, etc. concerning what has happened. last week i was pretty excited to find the above printed in the journal. i wasn’t excited because i was the one speaking on the evening, rather i was excited because it was another reminder that people are getting what we are doing as a group.

the photo above is the entry that i am talking about.

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deer scare

i had a close encounter with one of our backyard deer this afternoon.

i was by our squirrel feeder loading it with more corn when out of the corner of my eye i saw a shape moving toward me fast. i turned around to see a deer about 10′ away from me running at full tilt in my direction. immediately i realized that what i was encountering was one of the rare wisconsin rabid killer deer. they’re vicious and there is only one way to rescue yourself from them. i screamed “AHHHHHHHH!” and lifted my hands up to shield by face from the impact. this had the desired response and scared the deer into changing directions, right into a tree. the killer deer slammed into the large sapling and flipped onto its back. graceful creatures my butt.

anyhow the rabid but now scared deer finally got back on its feet and dizzily ran about 30 feet off to get its head straight. it was a bit of an odd experience for both of us.

SIDE NOTE – tapestry is team #4360 in this year’s town wide trivia contest. stevens point is the home of the world’s largest trivia contest. it starts friday and last 24 hours a day until sunday at 11:59:59 pm. it should be cool. we do not stand a chance of winning but we do hope to learn what to do in future years. our goal is to be in the top 2,000 teams.

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pam’s statement last night

the terrell family easter finery

last night while pam and i were reading in bed (our nightly prep for sleeping) she rolled over and said “thanks for leading the most meaningful easter day i have ever been a part of.” so basically i couldn’t sleep very well after that.

as a pastor that’s the kind of thing you want to hear from someone but it is on an entirely different level when you spouse says it from out of the blue (a.k.a . not just when she can tell your down and thinks you need to hear something positive). one of the best compliments i have ever received.

especially since i didn’t really do anything. other people did all the real work. all i did was point people in a few directions. the really cool thing was that the painting at the hope center was mostly done by regular old threads (my new favorite name for thus of us involved in tapestry). the cooking and serving of the easter meal at the hope center was done by other threads. the tapestry service that night was lead but eric and brent with me coming in third for a very quick sermon which i can promise you was probably not the most amazing sermon ever- the music was much better. now yes i know that pointing people in the right direction is a part of leading but it’s really easy when you are surround with people like the people of tapestry.

the part that i was personally most proud of was getting people up to dance during tapestry while no parking on the dance floor was playing. yes there was a point to this. i talked out of the lost chapter (luke 15) in which JESUS tells three stories of things that were lost and found (a coin, a sheep, and a son). all i pointed out was that these stories are actually more about the appropriate response to resurrection than they are about anything else. JESUS tells these stories in response to some pharisees questioning him about partying with “sinners” (luke 15:2). JESUS’s answer to them is to tell three stories about people finding things and partying as a result. JESUS was teaching us that when HE defeats death with life (a.k.a. resurrection) one of the appropriate responses is to celebrate. so tapestry cut loose and the goal is to continue to do so all week.

actually all of holy week has been that way. other people have been doing all the cool stuff. i’m usually just buying brushes, paint, and candles. the painting was that way all week long and tenebrae was definitely that way. anyhow, as a proud husband i want to thank everyone at tapestry who helped to make this such a significant easter for pam and i (and hopefully for others too). i can’t wait to see how it gets better and and better over the years through believers like you guys.

SIDE NOTE – i think i just lied a little bit. the part of easter sunday that i am most proud of is that “no parking on the dance floor” is now stuck in pam and the boys’ heads. they were singing it all night long. 🙂 beep, beep … beep, beep … beep, beep!

SIDE SIDE NOTE- i am excited about the fact that tapestry is getting to the point that we can push things further and further. i learned this lesson from ferris bueller. the further you push some things the more fun and effecrtive they become (that is until someone gets hurt and then it’s no longer fun and games – or at least that is what a t-shirt told me). the dancing and music was fun last night and i think they got the message across but everyone got into it better each time i add something to the scene. i pulled out horns for everyone, then peeps, them bubbles, and finally streamers started flying. pretty much everyone was smiling and dancing by the time the streamers were flying. that stuff was easy. what i wish had been available was a disco ball, dance lights, and glow sticks! that’s the type of stuff that will come about for free as more and more people buy into what we are doing as a group. yes, money can buy that stuff but money really is only a poor substitute for time, creativity, and group involvement. as we get better as a group at connecting resources we will be able to push things further and further and thereby make them even more effective … and fun.

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the tenebrae program

here’s the tenebrae program from tonight. it was a cool evening. it’s a very simple service that involved a good number of people to do it. i think the most meaningful part of the gathering for me was actually the room in which we held it. as a church we continually talk about the church not having walls but it’s still real easy to associate worship with a place – even when you just rent that place for a half a day each week. i loved the fact that we were doing this incredibly somber worship gathering in the university center of uwsp while students, faculty, and others were walking around outside the door and stopping to find out what was going on. i saw a couple of people that i have talked with before concerning faith and they were intrigued with what we were doing in the university center. for me it was a great reminder of BEING the church in the community.

SIDE NOTE – every so often while speaking i reference the people who are a part of tapestry by calling us “tapestrites” or “tapestronians.”  tonight i made reference to “tapestrities” and natalie g shouted out that we should be called “threads.” THIS IS BRILLIANT. as far as i am concerned the people of tapestry will from now on be referred to as “threads.”

SIDE SIDE NOTE – the “not my job” section of this week’s episode of “wait, wait … don’t tell me” is one of the funniest things i’ve ever heard. paula poundstone explaining the ingredients of ringdings is classic.

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acts of resurrection

just a little reminder for all my fellows tapestronians (the name that i presently like the best for those who are a part of tapestry because it reminds me of pasta – sorry i don’t know who started this so i don’t know who to give credit to). the goal for this month is to not only be involved in our corporate acts of resurrection but to also be involved in individual acts of resurrection. we’ll be filling up our stonehenge-like walls with these “resurrection sightings” as a reminder of what GOD can and wants to do in the world and our lives.

anyhow the reminder is for the schedule for painting at the salvation army hope center. we will be painting:

  • tuesday, april 7th – 4-7 p.m.
  • saturday, april 11th – 1-4 p.m.
  • sunday, april 12th – 9am-noon

after we finish painting on easter sunday we will eat lunch with the residents of the hope center. if you want to bring something for the meal please contact pam – she’s the organized one.

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brief freak out moment

i was typing the announcements for tapestry tonight and i had a brief freak out moment. the reason was that there are a lot of things going on in tapestry right now. i freaked out because i worry about us getting too busy with activities. it is far too easy within the church culture to get really busy doing “church” things. i don’t think that is what faith is about. i don’t think that JESUS’ goal ever was to get people to do more and more stuff at church. yet it becomes very easy for churches to think that the goal is to get people at more and more activities. that’s when churches begin to do things just for the sake of doing things. a busy calendar makes it appear like the church is doing important things. this is why activity is often substituted for mission.

but that’s not what tapestry is about. when we started everyone agreed that the goal was to focus on helping people to learn, experience, and live out a faith that is lived out in people’s every day lives. this means doing few church activities and making sure that the ones we do actually support people in living out their faith in their offices, school, families, etc. what we do always has to be on target with our mission. we don’t want to do any activity simple for the sake of doing something.

so i started to freak out when i noticed all the things we were doing. this week we are doing four service activities, two worship services, and a small group study. in addition to those activities there are several other things happening throughout the month. that’s a lot of stuff our small church. my freak out changed when pam pointed out how “on mission” these things are. every activity that is happening fits perfectly within our mission. as a church we’re a little busy over the next several weeks but thankfully none of it is activity just for the sake of activity. what we are doing fits right in with who we believe JESUS is calling us to be.

SIDE NOTE – i made the walls yesterday and we used them at tapestry tonight. they were quite cool. kind of a church stonehenge people have already begun to fill them with sightings of GOD’s life. i’m glad to see them being used for one very selfish reason. yesterday i sprayed them black with four cans of spray paint. i didn’t have one of those spray paint handles (which i have since bought) so i controlled the cans with my index finger and thumb. this was not a good thing. it strained my thumbs and index fingers so much that i wasn’t able to type or hold things last night. it was so bad that i couldn’t even release the clasp on the dogs’ leashes. it would suck to think that i went through that for something that wasn’t going to be used. thankfully that doesn’t seem to be the true.

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resurrection just gets better and better

i worked out the final plans for painting with lisa, the salvation army hope center administrator. we (tapestry) will be painting tuesday (during the day and late afternoon), saturday (late morning through early afternoon) and sunday morning (early morning till lunch). so this means that we will begin our easter celebration on easter sunday morning by painting rooms for 26 men and women who have no other place to go. not a bad way to start off celebrating JESUS’s resurrection.

it got even better today. while i was talking with lisa i asked what they were doing for easter lunch. she said no one had volunteered to do anything and therefore the residents would just put together whatever they find. so tapestry is going to cook and eat easter lunch with the residents of the hope center. matthew 25 says that when we give food and drink to the most needed in our culture then we are giving it to HIM. i believe that to be true and therefore i believe that we will get to begin out easter celebration by cooking and eating easter lunch with JESUS.

i’m pretty excited about that.

if you are a tapestrite or will be in the point area over easter and you would like to be a part of this email me and i’ll get you all the information.