168 Hours

I hope this finds you well! This summer, I was a student at a week-long course on leadership development at the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University.) During this course, our (patient) professors of business and non-profit management spent time interpreting effective tools to the Church! Mr. Harry Kraemer started one of our classes off with a number: 168. He wrote the number 168 on the chalk board and said, “One of my very favorite numbers is 168. Everyone gets the same 168.” He was referring to the number of hours we all get, each week. Then, he asked us, “How do you use your 168?”

Your 168

How do you use your 168? God has given us 168 hours each week, and we get to determine how to best use our time. Mr. Kraemer suggested a bucket system: buckets of time to sleep, eat, spend with family and/or friends, work, worship, study, exercise… and anything else you value. Many would say that as we take a look at our financial budgets,we see what we value. What do you see when you look at your time budget? Do your values get your time? If family is a top priority, but had zero hours last week, how might we use our time differently?

Good stewardship

As you seek to be a good steward of the hours God has given you, I hope you will consider your hours of worship, study, time with your faith community, and time serving others. On Sunday, September 9, you will have an opportunity to sign up for a variety of leadership opportunities here at St. James. I hope you will prayerfully consider giving some of your 168 to St. James, whether it be continuing your commitment to a specific ministry or trying something new.

God bless you!

by Rev. Lisa Saunders

General Convention Update

I want to remind you that General Convention is going on in Indianapolis right now!

The Rev. Andy Jones (St. Andrew's, Madison) has been blogging from General Convention each night  about the day's decisions, prayers, events.  Follow his blog by clicking HERE. 

The Rev. Lisa Saunders

Journey of Ministry

Dear Friends,

I hope you have been well! I have not seen most of you for a few weeks, and I look forward to this Sunday and our time together in worship, study and fellowship!  

This Sunday, we will study Context in the Old Testament at our 9 AM Adult Education in the Lounge.  Click HERE for the link to the Adult Education schedule through July.

And in our worship we will hear the words of Jesus, sending the disciples out on their journey of ministry.  Jesus sends us out, too, to minister in his name.  Come, hear what it is we need to do our ministry in the world!  

Following our 10 AM service of Holy Eucharist, please remember you are invited to stay and chat about the changes we made to the nave in April. 

See you Sunday!

The Rev. Lisa Saunders