What do you have to say?

Delmer Chilton, Assistant to the Bishop in the Southeastern Synod

This is a somewhat embarrassing confession; when I was a young pastor (yes, I can actually remember that far back) I used to daydream about what I would say if I had the chance to preach to the Synod Assembly, or the Pastor's Conference or whatever gathering I thought needed the benefit of my wisdom. It never really happened back then, and for the most part that was a good thing because many of the things I wanted to tell them were either ill-advised or not as important as I thought they were at the time. But, there was some good stuff in there that needed to be said and I never got the chance to say it when it mattered.

I am certain that there are many who read this blog who have something important to say. Not just young male pastors with more ego than sense (I'm talking about the young ME, not anyone currently serving in the Southeastern Synod) but anyone; young or old or in between, male or female, the person in the pew or the pastor in the pulpit; whoever you might be, it is possible that God has given you a word that we need to hear.

It is the intended purpose of this blog to be a place for that sort of conversation and dialog among the many voices of the people in our synod. This is not an "official" voice, handing down opinions from the leadership; it is a "community" forum; where we can talk to each other about the things that matter most.

Those who read us regularly have noticed that the members of the synod Staff have written most of the entries but we have had occasional contributions from others. Our hope is that eventually the blog will consist of contributions from people in the synod with only occasional entries from members of the staff. So, this is a call for manuscripts; what is it you have to say?

Also, in order for this to be a true forum, a real dialog, comments make it all a bit more interesting. We'd love to hear from you in the comments section itself. It's pretty easy to do, and if you have any trouble, just call Elaine and she'll walk you through it (as she often does with me). Comments do not appear immediately after you submit them because they are monitored and then published.

There are a few ground rules, as there are in any public place. This is not the place to air complaints about specific congregations or people. Entries should engender thought and conversation; not anger and argument. Humor is fine, as long as it is not barbed or hurtful. Entries should be about 750 to 1000 words in length. Synod staff will edit as needed and no entry will be altered and then published without the author knowledge and consent. We will, of course, reserve the right to not publish if no agreement on content can be reached.

So, what do you have to say?