Fight Mad Church Disease

My dear friend, Anne Jackson is the beginning stages of writing a book. Yes, a book with the working title of Mad Church Disease. Intriguing, huh?

Mad Church Disease will discuss the epidemic of ministry burnout in today's contemporary church. Currently, anonymous surveys are being conducted at MadChurchDisease.com for those who are on any church staff, those who are family of church staff and those who are volunteers in ministry. By analyzing these surveys, as well as conducting interviews with pastors, families and volunteers world-wide, Anne hopes to bring this touchy subject to light using real-life stories of not only tragedy, but redemption and healing for those who have been affected by this disease.

I wouldn't be telling you this if I wasn't 100% in support and passionate about this project. Having personally walked with Anne for several years in ministry and some of those, her hardest times, I couldn't be more proud and excited to see her follow through on the dream of writing this book. A book that will no doubt inspire men and women currently serving in ministry, considering ministry and who have never even stepped foot in the church. God has definitely used Anne and her experiences in my life. I've seen the fall-out. I've seen the burn-out. I've experienced for myself. I know the magnitude of impact this book carries. I look forward to seeing how God uses this book and Anne's story to impact the lives of many.

SO...

How can you help fight Mad Church Disease?

1.  Take a survey here.

2.  Email all your friends, your staff, your small group and the people you volunteer with to encourage them to take a survey as well.

3.  Fight by helping spread the cure!  Post a link to the surveys on your blog, myspace or any form of virtual communication of your choosing. You can find graphics with code, etc. here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you will take one or two steps further by participating in the surveys and directing other people like you to MadChurchDisease.com.

If you have any questions at all please let me know.

the more i think about my trip, the more excited i get. the nerves are fading and i am getting PUMPED!! i want to capture as many memories as i can so i have a request for you to help me to do just that.

although i have a digital camera for still-shots with plenty of disk space (1G), i want to be able to film and capture my own video. but alas, i don't have a small, decent video camera. nor can i afford to buy even a crappy one.

i know this a BIG ask... but is there anyone out here who would be willing to loan me their video camera? or do you have friends with connections? perhaps you can repost about this?

even though having a video camera or not having one - won't make or break my trip - i would appreciate any help i can get in hopes of getting one. to be able to capture in real-life motion, this opportunity i may never have again in my life... would be amazing.

if you have a small, decent video camera or able to locate one you'd be willing to let me borrow... contact me ASAP at design@crystalrenaud.com. i will pay for overnight or next-day shipping, etc.

THANKS!!

originally posted at pinkhairedgirl.net
ADD COMMENT

originally posted at pinkhairedgirl.net

FUNK

it is 2:30am and i am fighting back tears. just SUPER emotional. and i am not sure where it is all coming from. work has been UBER busy for my department over the last couple weeks so i am hoping my busyness and working late, etc. is contributing to my overly-emotional take on life but it is just strong tonight.  

i am a woman and an artist so realistically, i am allowed to be just a hair more dramatic than "normal". all i know is that i don't like this side of dramatic. nope, not at all. not a bit. the sad/angry/frustrated side of dramatic. basically i feel like i am being attacked. which would make sense. God is trying to prepare me for the mission-field and all i am doing is allowing the enemy to distract me with DRAMA. welcome to my life though.

when will i learn that i don't have to be a doormap for drama?

that i don't have to over-analyze everything. that sometimes perfectly, wonderful friendships have off-days. that sometimes people will treat me different than other days. that i will be busier today than others days. that some days i will be granted acknowledgement and affirmation and some days i will be invisible and be given no credit. and that some times, some things are just how they are and i can't change them. and it's ok.

not sure i will ever get there.  

thoughts? advice? anything? 

--------------------------------------------------- 

latest random news:

i love diet cranberry limeades from SONIC
i only have $415 left to raise for my mission (out of $3000... wow!)
i am doing a lot better with my sciatica symptoms. i went to my genius chiropractor and started doing pilates again.

i ran across this passage from the book "Captivating" again... it still moves me, no matter how many times i read it. i am reminded that i was created to be a woman and that i am an intentional creation of God. makes me feel pretty darn powerful in a world that makes me feel, at times, powerless.

"She is the crescendo, the final, astonishing work of God. Woman. In one last flourish creation comes to a finish not with Adam, but with Eve. She is the Master's finishing touch...Given the way that creation unfolds, how it builds to ever higher and higher works of art, can there be any doubt that Eve is the crown of creation?" ... "She is God's final touch, his 'piece de resistance.' She fills a place in the world nothing and no one else can fill. Step to a window, ladies, if you can. Better still, find some place with a view. Look out across the earth and say to yourselves, 'The whole, vast world is incomplete without me. Creation reached its zenith in me'." - Captivating, Stasi Eldredge 

ADD COMMENT 

one year after…

January 3, 2006 is has now become January 3, 2007 ... and marks 1 year since we lost Brandon to Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. a milestone. 365 days have past and i am still not the same and i probably never will be. it has been a year of dusting ourselves off. a year of learning to walk strong again. a year of rebuilding. a year of complete change in so many lives. in so many ways.

brandon died just 72 days after i was a bridesmaid in his wedding. and the day of his death is probably the hardest day i’ve lived in my short 22 years. the pain of hearing those words from karen mees on the phone, “crystal, brandon just passed away" … i can hear so clearly even still. it was 12:27pm. i remember beginning to cry uncontrollably on the phone at my desk... and karen asking if i was ok... anne walked out of her office to hold me - knowing right away what i was hearing on the phone without having to ask … pastor jim and pastor dave coming up and holding me too. then sitting on the cold tile floor in the back stairway of the church admin office... to make the calls megan requested. calling sarah… calling jennifer and having to leave the news on her voice-mail ... calling kate… then calling a number of others. leaving work without telling anyone. just going home to grieve. then cleaning up my face so i could head over to meg’s mom’s house. waiting for meg to wake up from a much-needed nap. sitting on the floor with her and our lifegroup. making fun of her ugly dog. sharing our love for brandon and just holding each other. praying. crying. laughing. waiting with her until her parents got back into town. then leaving her in her mother’s arms. a vision i will never forget.

i can’t imagine the pain megan was feeling that day but reliving that time right now just makes me weep … weeping in such a hard, full-bodied way. i haven’t cried in such a way over the loss of my friend since one year ago. but thinking back to those events... it is evident that the pain is so great… even still. still so raw. but through the questions of why, the pain, bitterness, sadness, anger... i can still find joy. joy in knowing he's home with the Father and is no longer in pain. the cancer cannot get him there. it cannot defeat the eternity we have with Christ. and in that i find joy.

miss you friend. you've been gone longer than i knew you on earth but even in that short time you forever changed my life. you changed the lives of everyone you touched. and the impact is still seen. what a legacy and a life lived. i am honored to have known you personally and to have been your friend. thank you for loving megs.... thank you for loving us. we love you. we miss you. later, B. 

brandon's eulogy

ADD COMMENT