Yesterday was a hard day. We knew it would be. The worship services went well. We had 10 more people identify as members of Rochester Church. It was Family Sunday (we do that every 5th Sunday and are considering moving it to once a month) so the children were involved in our worship. They did [...]
This will just be up one day — two at a stretch. It is also posted at my main site — www.patrickmead.net The fourth chapter has been posted at thenovelproject.patrickmead.net Duncan leaves tomorrow. After our third service, our family and his girlfriend’s family will eat lunch. He will say goodbye to us in the parking [...]
The title of this article is the title of a new publication by the Civic Trust in Scotland. For those not familiar with the term, "redundant" means, "surplus to requirements." In other words, when you don’t need a church building anymore, what do you do with it? This is a serious issue in Scotland where [...]
I just got back from a ton of traveling. The last few days I have been with the Southlake Boulevard Church in Southlake, Texas. I’m not going to mince words here: I am used to blessing congregations and moving on, feeling washed out, worn out. There are exceptions, to be sure. Many times, I come [...]
Tonight at our mid-week event (called Connections. It is usually a seeker friendly service) Josh Graves and Chris Lindsay planned and carried out a touching hour of prayer and hope. Chris led us in songs of mourning, sadness, loss, and dependence upon Christ. Josh spoke to us about the events of Monday at Virginia Tech, [...]
I need to make a correction to the last post. As the holder of a resident alien card, the shooter WAS legally allowed to purchase and possess firearms in the State of Virginia. I was unaware of that and stated that, merely by having them, he violated the law. He broke quite a few other [...]
A dark day, indeed. A reminder that we live in a fallen world, far away from heaven. We see mindless carnage perpetrated by suicide bombers, the Taliban, Al Qaeda, etc. ad nauseum but we aren’t used to this level of mass murder in our home. This isn’t a Baghdad market — it’s Blacksburg. European papers [...]
[Keep me in prayer. My sarcoidosis is acting up and I have to give 16 talks in 4 States in the next 8 days. Fun! Then, I get back for a quiet last week with my son before he begins a new life in the USMC] Today, the Orkneys are part of Scotland. They aren’t [...]
As Rochester Church grows and branches out into multiple ministries, questions arise about how we should be organized and which titles might be appropriate for various ministry leaders. The elders asked me to study the word "deacon" and its uses and report back to them. This is a highly abridged version of that report. The [...]
I will add photos here when I can figure out how to do it. I’ve been trying all morning and all I can do is put HUGE photos in that run off the page, so… When the morning started, there were two plain wooden crosses up in front of the auditorium. Both crosses were covered [...]