A more detailed property update

As I mentioned last week, there's been little news to report on the property across the street, but I realized there is more info I can share. The current crop planted on that land is rye. The rye was chopped late last week and is I guess drying on the field right now (or at least it hasn't been picked up yet). I'm told corn goes in next.

Testing the OpenOffice

I came across OpenOffice.org a few months back. I installed it on our personal computer, but I've been interested to try it at the office. Software licensing costs us a chunk of money each year and while the Microsoft products are generally accepted as the industry standard, they aren't necessarily the best. So to outlay the sums of money we do each year for software that could be better... it just doesn't seem like the wisest stewardship. So I'm embarking on a test beginning this week to see if OpenOffice can adequately replace Microsoft Office for the tasks I do on a regular basis.

My hypothesis is that indeed OpenOffice will serve my needs sufficiently, the challenge will be whether those with whom I exchange files will be able to convert the documents I send them.

I'll keep you posted.

Introducing Grace Church eVites

Sorry for the long hiatus, I suffered a coup d'etat lead by the tyranny of the urgent. Thankfully I survived and control is being restored. It remains to be seen whether I'm still in power or not :)

My co-workers will tell you, when they're away and I fill-in for them, I have a tendency to upset the apple cart and make changes. I'm proud to say that I resisted this temptation last week while I had the opportunity to handle the webpage for the week. I dutifully updated information only and didn't reface the webpage or anything like that.


I did roll out a new piece we've been working on for almost an entire year, the eVite. An eVite is an email message, containing information provided by Grace Church, that you can use to invite people to an upcoming Sunday or message series. Right now, the eVite highlights the Mansion of Prayer message series that kicks off this Sunday. The email message generated by the eVite not only includes information about the message series, but also includes services times, directions and other pertinent information for someone who's never been to Grace before.

Our hope is to roll out a new eVite about 2-3 weeks in advance of the next message series so you can invite people early and often.

Here's a little tip. If you have a real-time internet connection and you don't delete the eVite message, the graphic will update when we change the eVite to the next message series. For example, the eVite highlights Mansion of Prayer right now. Next month, we'll switch to the Raising G-rated Kids in an R-rated World. When we switch, the message sitting in your inbox will change as well.

Check out the eVites at http://www.lgbc.org/gracechurch/sunday/invitation/evite.htm

We have some additional plans in development to further promote upcoming message series and events. We are becoming more and more cognizant of the people who enter our facility, a captive audience we can target in an attempt to invite us to join on a Sunday morning. Don't for a second think that these methods release us from our responsibility to make personal contacts - a personal invitation will always be the most effective.

Weekend Fragments

Sorry for the black out I suffered a coup de ta by the tyranny of the urgent. To bring you back up to speed here are a few fragments...

1. Did you hear that 18,000 attended last Saturday's Blue/White game at Penn State? Keep in mind the Blue/White game is an intra-squad scrimmage with free admission and that it was raining all day Saturday. I figure if 18,000 are willing to watch a scrimmage game in the rain, then it's another reason we don't need to cancel services due to a few inches of snow.

2. Easter Sunday - What a great day! I was thrilled with all the participants who helped pull the whole day together. Dee Miller did a wonderful job with the continental breakfast, the ushers did a tremendous job getting all 1,856 of the people seated, the worship teams/choir/musicians were good, the greeters did a great job welcoming all the visitors, we had just enough parking, we had seats to spare... all around it was a great team effort and a wonderful celebration.

3. Projector Roulette - Notice anything different with the Auditorium screens lately? We've been playing projector roulette. I admire Tim Reedy's patience; I'd be pulling my hair out by now. First the left projector started fading and we limped with it through the Christmas season. After having it for four weeks, the technicians couldn't conclusively identify the problem. We reinstalled since a limping projector is better than no projector. Then Plan B (replacing the projectors with existing projectors in other parts of the building) was implemented only to discover that their throw distance didn't match, rendering them unusable without physical changes that had other complications. So we went to Plan C, purchasing a replacement projector. The one dillema when you have two projectors is whether to replace both simultaneously; we decided to be frugal and just replace the one which was installed in time for Easter. Now, as luck would have it, the right projector is fading.

4. It's been awhile since there's been any news about the property across the street. Officially, there's been nothing to report; we've been consumed first by Christmas planning followed closely by Easter. As Pastor Scott announced yesterday, we will be forming a Concept Development Team in the coming weeks to get moving on the property once again.

5. Now that I've weathered the coup de ta of the past month, hopefully I'll be able to resume blogging with some frequency. I've been pitching in as a Receptionist the past several weeks as we wanted to have a Receptioninst from 8:30-5 each business day. I've pitched in while we worked on the long-term staffing plan.

The Madness of March

For years, basketball was my favorite sport. While playing in high school I tried to emulate the NCAA stars of the 1980s-1990s. Coverage of NCAA Basketball Championship in those days was limited, even for the US audience. The early round games were broadcast on CATV with only the later rounds picked up by the national network. So for the international viewer, coverage was even spottier. I think the first championship game I remember seeing live was the Michigan/Seton Hall final – I think that was another watching the game between class periods type of a thing (see my Super Bowl post).

Since returning to the US combined with CBS’s broadcasting every game of the entire tournament, the annual March Madness tournament has been one of my most favorite times of the year. My enjoyment reached even higher levels during my years in Princeton, NJ, which happened to coincide with the Princeton University basketball program producing the memorable first-round upset of the defending champion UCLA Bruins. My co-workers will confirm that the Tournament schedule is blocked off on the church master calendar years in advance and I’ve even used vacation days just to be able to watch every minute of action of the first two rounds of the tournament.

But the madness of March hit me in a new way this year. First off, work at the church has been so intense I’ve hardly had time to think about the tournament this year. My engagement level in the tournament is lower than in previous years, though I can still tell you who’s in the Final Four. But when I reflect on what I did during the first weekend of the tournament, you’d think the law of gravity was turned on it’s head.

On the beginning day of the tournament, a day in that past that I’ve devoted solely and completely to watching basketball from 12 noon until 12:30 at night (with about an hour’s break for dinner), this year I instead rented Pride & Prejudice to watch with my wife. GASP!

My wife is a Jane Austen fan, among other authors. We have a BBC version of Pride & Prejudice, a two-tape set that is several hours in length. She’s watched it numerous times and I’ve endured it a few myself. So it’s not as if we didn’t know the story. But recently, Hollywood released another rendition of the classic and we missed it in the theaters. It was released on video in late February, but every time we were at Blockbuster, all of the copies were rented out. As fortune would have it, when I stopped at Blockbuster on the beginning day of the tournament, one copy was available. Without hesitation, I grabbed it and went on my way, thinking of the ramifications of my actions only after I had picked it up and headed for the counter.

And so, while the results of the first round were being decided on the court (mind you, I don’t think I missed any of the big upsets), my wife and I enjoyed an evening together with Mr. Darcy, Liza Bennet and the rest of the Bennet clan. Yes, the title March Madness really is apropos.