It’s unusual. We have shipped more orders via Express Mail for assured delivery by Easter this week than we shipped for assured delivery the week before Christmas.
What causes this? Does Christmas receive so much hype that we don’t forget to send gifts early and Easter receives so little recognition that some of us forget to finalize purchases that we need for Easter?
We are glad to help our customers with Express Mail shipping. Still, we fret over the excess costs the purchases incur by needing to ship them by the more expensive and faster shipping of Express Mail.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
The Women's Convocation preparations
The past few weeks Nancy has been diligently preparing for our book display for the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Women’s Convocation V, April 12th and 13th. Catholic women religious plan and present a fabulous program of speakers for their convocation. This is not an annual event. It happens about once every four years. It is held in one of the largest conference venues in the metro Seattle area. Two thousand women are expected to attend.
We will be displaying and selling more than 100 book titles for the 15 well-known authors and speakers on women’s issues. The logistics for us are significant.
It is a women’s event so our booth will be staffed by women while the male staff members of this ministry-which-is-the-store will handle the duties of our bricks and mortar and online store, as well as some of the heavy lifting and delivery of the cartons of books.
It is an interesting and exciting time for us, even during this Holy Week.
After the event I hope to report on what I hear from those who attend about the speakers and some of their thoughts.
We will be displaying and selling more than 100 book titles for the 15 well-known authors and speakers on women’s issues. The logistics for us are significant.
It is a women’s event so our booth will be staffed by women while the male staff members of this ministry-which-is-the-store will handle the duties of our bricks and mortar and online store, as well as some of the heavy lifting and delivery of the cartons of books.
It is an interesting and exciting time for us, even during this Holy Week.
After the event I hope to report on what I hear from those who attend about the speakers and some of their thoughts.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
One body, different parts
Nancy and I visited our son and his family in southern California this past weekend. Great visit. Wonderful family time together.
It is always enlivening to worship in a different Episcopal congregation. They live and worship with a special emphasis due to their location and the presence of many military families that my home congregation does not. The different congregations are definitely “one body in Christ,” and we are different parts of the same body. Same blood, same "DNA" so to speak, but our bodies react differently to the different environments in which we live.
We are not frozen in one identical liturgy, one liturgy that could become boring and less meaningful. To me the way that we can adapt the liturgy to fit our place in "the body" seems most natural. And certainly our God who is more than we can describe, know, or imagine, is used to our varieties and our varieties of worship.
It is always enlivening to worship in a different Episcopal congregation. They live and worship with a special emphasis due to their location and the presence of many military families that my home congregation does not. The different congregations are definitely “one body in Christ,” and we are different parts of the same body. Same blood, same "DNA" so to speak, but our bodies react differently to the different environments in which we live.
We are not frozen in one identical liturgy, one liturgy that could become boring and less meaningful. To me the way that we can adapt the liturgy to fit our place in "the body" seems most natural. And certainly our God who is more than we can describe, know, or imagine, is used to our varieties and our varieties of worship.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Children's sermon on the Prodigal Son
We have seen that children’s religious books and bibles take big life issues and describe the essence of them in simple terms. Adults can often learn important information by reading children’s religious books bibles. So too for a good children’s sermon.
Click here to view a video of what we think is a good children’s sermon on the Prodigal Son that carries and important theological precept for all of us. It is preached to the students at St. John's Episcopal Church and Day School in Chula Vista CA.
Click here to view a video of what we think is a good children’s sermon on the Prodigal Son that carries and important theological precept for all of us. It is preached to the students at St. John's Episcopal Church and Day School in Chula Vista CA.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
An acolyte video
Having worked with young people and in the Church this video by and about acolytes really tickles me. Perhaps you will enjoy it too.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Books at a liturgy workshop
Last Saturday Nancy and I displayed and sold some books at a local workshop for clergy on the topic of liturgy. It was very good to visit with the clergy for whom remains important to keep studying the liturgy to see how it can be kept fresh and alive. Actually, those dedicated indiviuals were quite inspiring.
That is a description of the ministry-which-is-the-store. As for the business-which-is-the-store, there was insufficient sales at the workshop to pay for the extra help we needed at the store so that we could attend the workshop with the books, let alone to pay for our time to order the books and attend our display. This is a continuing discernment that we work with. Do they pay for themselves? Usually not. Should we remain involved in them? Yes.
That is a description of the ministry-which-is-the-store. As for the business-which-is-the-store, there was insufficient sales at the workshop to pay for the extra help we needed at the store so that we could attend the workshop with the books, let alone to pay for our time to order the books and attend our display. This is a continuing discernment that we work with. Do they pay for themselves? Usually not. Should we remain involved in them? Yes.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Erin
Okay. I can write on this blog again. The Busy Season had other activities for me, but now life in this ministry-which-is-the-store has calmed down.
Erin is an interesting and dear customer. She is located on the other coast of the country and phones us with book orders. Over the past year, without prying into her personal life, we have deduced that she is bed-ridden in a residential facility. A few days ago I asked her if the cherry trees were blooming yet. She replied that although the curtain is open, “they have not raised the shade yet.” She could not tell me if the cherries were in bloom.
On a regular basis Erin orders books, some new, and many out of print that I can find for her as used books. After several orders I inquired about her source for finding the titles. Erin replied that her source for the titles is from the bibliographies of the books that she has received from us. (Bibliographies are a treasure of titles that the authors recommend.)
Each of us looks forward to each phone call from Erin. The book orders are good, but better are the brief conversations with a delightful, thoughtful woman.
Erin is an interesting and dear customer. She is located on the other coast of the country and phones us with book orders. Over the past year, without prying into her personal life, we have deduced that she is bed-ridden in a residential facility. A few days ago I asked her if the cherry trees were blooming yet. She replied that although the curtain is open, “they have not raised the shade yet.” She could not tell me if the cherries were in bloom.
On a regular basis Erin orders books, some new, and many out of print that I can find for her as used books. After several orders I inquired about her source for finding the titles. Erin replied that her source for the titles is from the bibliographies of the books that she has received from us. (Bibliographies are a treasure of titles that the authors recommend.)
Each of us looks forward to each phone call from Erin. The book orders are good, but better are the brief conversations with a delightful, thoughtful woman.
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