sustain:if:able kiwi

a tonic at the end of a tough day

It had been a long, hot day. Team Taylor were tired. We’d been up late the night before collecting a Dad from the airport, up early for music practices, staying afterschool for extra-curricula activities.

We all wanted to just be home.

But the traffic was crawling down Marion Road. After stop starting for 30 mins, we decided to bail and pulled into a local pub.

We walked into this …

Monteiths. So iconic in New Zealand that one of our fridges, the fridge at our holiday house, is called Monty! Named after original West Coast of New Zealand beer.

On tap, here, local, in Australia ….

project progress: some first signs of life

A first sign of new life over the weekend at our house/project, with seeds germinating. They are a “cottage garden” mix, given to one of our kids in the “transition pack” we gave them as part of the move. Planted, last Sunday, protected by wire in case the 3 cats the previous owner has left behind try to take revenge, they are sprouting by our front deck.

They are a small sign of hope in what has been a week on the home front we would prefer to forget. The day we moved the builders decided to sand the gib, which meant all our stuff now sports a fine film of gib dust. The next day one of the subbies did a runner, with their replacement following suit a few days later. We are perched in the top part of the house, one of the kids sleeping on a sofa in the lounge, while we wait for the builders to finish. The other child has been sick, suffering asthma symptoms, trying to rest in a house filled with gib dust!

So finding even the tiniest sign of growth, the smallest sign of new life, is important.

I am using this post as a prayer, adding as a comment the initials of a person/place which today I want to experience life. You might like to pray with me, adding initials for a person or place in which you would like to see God breathe fresh life.

a day’s retreat with Uniting world

Today I am spending the day with Uniting World, who are the overseas mission arm of the Uniting Church of Australia. My task is to input into the 19 staff, who have gathered on retreat. (It means a long day, as they are meeting in Sydney, so a 5 am start, back in Adelaide by 7 pm).

I think I will frame my time with them around two questions.

First, what do we do with the word “mission”? I will tell a couple of stories that might be a window into the current mission state of the Uniting Church. One will reflect on how church folk are shaped today by their previous experience of mission, the other on our tendency to reduce mission. I hope that will provoke some discussion on how we frame, imagine and talk mission today.

Second, I will ask them about the Uniting Church Preamble, and what is the missiology embedded in it, and what that might mean.

I also have some global mission stories, which I have prepared as takeaway postcards, along with some recent non-Western mission thinking, which perhaps I might salt through the conversation.

I am not at all sure what and who I will find, and my brief has been fairly vague. So I’m feeling a tad nervous, but am praying that some connection points get made and that we all leave a little richer.

being 12: a birthday car-hunt

One member of Team Taylor turned 12 today. Being a Sunday, it meant a whole day to fill with pleasure and enjoyment. We decided to try and have a treasure hunt using the car. We identified 7 fun things/favourite spots. We then created a number (3 or 4) clues for each, from hard to easy. The challenge was to use the clues to identify the spot, which we then drove to, to enjoy a treat. Once enjoyed, the next “spot”/set of clues could be requested.

It turned out to be a fun and creative way to spend some time as a family celebrating a birthday. Here’s the clues, and I will put the answers in the comments. (It mostly took about 2 clues to guess the spot, although one confounded both children). (more…)

the project has begun: broken perfume bottles anyone

Back in November we put on an offer in on a house. It is a real mess. Two rooms are unfinished – no gib on walls or roof. Most other rooms have holes in the walls. No room is finished, apart from kitchen and bathroom.

But the place has character. And the bones are sound. And the carpentry is sound. And we’ve done a do-up before. And its better than renting in that we get to put our own pictures up and paint rooms the colour we want them and have pets. And we put in an offer at a price that meant we could afford a bit of carpentry help.

Because its a do-up we’ve given ourselves a few weeks to work on it before we move in. So we took possession on Saturday and have spent the weekend ripping up carpet (the owner had cats that wee’d inside) and cleaning. Plus the first coat of paint on the first ceiling.

Plus a few surprises. The owner had not quite left. And she turns out to be the owner of 16 cats. Yep 16. Not all are yet gone.

And, most wierd of all, as we ripped plywood off the ceiling tonight (yep plywood on the ceiling!), I heard something move in the wood above me. Once, twice, three, four times. One by one, out fell 4 perfume bottles, smashing onto the floor below. Glass everywhere and fine perfume wafting through the room.

Who on earth would board perfume into their ceiling? Or a sacrament of annointing?

and now we’re back. So hi ho, hi ho

32 days after we left for home/New Zealand/holidays, we’re back, in Australia, at home, and starting to think about the year ahead.

It promises to be a MOST interesting year. First, we move into our very own Australian “project” – a house that needs a LOT of attention! More on this in the coming days! I promise.

Second, come 1st of July, I start as Principal of Uniting College. I’m feeling pretty daunted by the title and the expectation and am intrigued by how that role will unfold over the latter half of the year.

Third, due to starting as Principal, it was decided just before Christmas that it might be wise for me to take some study leave before I begin. (I was due for study leave first semester of 2013, ie 6 months after I would have begun as Principal). So from April to June 2012, I have three months to do some writing, followed by another three months December 2012 -March 2013.

A year of new house, new job and study leave. What impact will all this have on the old stress levels I wonder? Whatever might come, it certainly promises to be an event-filled year!

So, first things first, might as well head off to work tomorrow …

the summer project

It used to look like this …

now, after fun choosing the paint, then time spent engaging in the spiritual practice of undercoating, followed by three days of exhausting painting, this is the result …

one very satisfying summer project complete. Wish all my work was this instantly transforming, this instantly satisfying.

on a jet plane. tee hee

Team Taylor are on a jet plane, flying back to New Zealand for the summer. I have one more week of work, in which I hope to make significant progress on this little writing project, but with school ending for the kids on Wednesday, it’s time to reconnect with earth and people.

We are all very excited ….

What would I use iPAD aps for?

Now this looks a fantastic ap for an iPAD. On Saturday I was scrawling an idea on a piece of paper – it was a decision making tree to help a church reflect on its mission future – and a friend commented, “I bet your house is full of those scraps.”

It is.

And I don’t find any of my existing software (Word/pages/paint etc) easy to mix both diagrams and text. So an ap that I can doodle, draw, journal, all in one place!

And so a followup to my – what would I use an iPAD for – post yesterday:

What iPAD aps might intentionally re-source and re-plenish (cf consume, distract, show-off)?

what would I use an iPAD for?

I’ve been given a monetary gift. It’s a thankyou in response to working quite intensely over a recent weekend, a period that left me quite drained.

So it would be nice to use this gift to intentionally re-source and re-plenish myself, to be able to point to something and say ‘this is a blessing back, for being a blessing out.’

Books, music and art are (definite) possibilities. Another suggestion is that I buy an iPAD. I already have a kindle (which I use for reading and love the new reading horizons) and a laptop (for work) and I’m not not convinced about more technological acquisition.

So, fellow readers what really – usefully, resourcefully – would I use an iPAD for? How would it help re-source and re-plenish me, in ways that a kindle or laptop couldn’t?

Facet5, You know me so well

A few years ago, wanting to enhance our team work at Opawa Baptist, we involved an external human resource person. She in turn introduced us to a tool called Facet5.

the most modern and advanced measure of personality available. Used by organisations and consultants worldwide, Facet5 is applied in people development, individual selection, team integration and organisational strategy, adding real value to an organisation

We invited our key staff, incoming and existing, to complete the tool. It helped not only in recruitment, but on into staff development, giving each of us insight into how best to lead, and to be led.

It then provided a great way to team build, with each of us able to share more clearly who were were. Which gave us a way to appreciate each others uniqueness. Which in turn allowed a greater degree of vulnerability, as together, we affirmed our willingness to be team in helping each other not just in our strengths, but our weaknesses.

In the last few days, I’ve dug out and dusted off my Facet5 profile. Read it to Lynne and laughed in sheer relief. It knows me so well. Like this bit of advice:

“Be prepared for Steve to have changed or modified his plans in response to new information and events.”

Or this!

“Offer an informal working environment where intuition and spontaneity is valued and a sense of humour is welcomed.”

It’s very weird, yet totally refreshing, to hear oneself reflected back so well. To be reminded both of my uniqueness and yet the uniqueness of every human I encounter.

I have a new job. A responsible job!

That the Standing Committee:

1. APPOINT Rev Dr Steve Taylor to the position of Principal, Uniting College for Leadership and Theology, for a period of three years commencing 1 July 2012.

The job is becoming vacant because the current Principal, Andrew Dutney, (much loved, big shoes to fill!) is becoming the President of the Uniting Church in Australia.

So a new Principal at the College I work at, Uniting College, was needed. The position was advertised in August and one Sunday I had a sort of God encounter in the midst of a children’s talk. The Moses and the burning bush story was being told and I realised that I was being Moses – that a number of folk had suggested I consider the role of Principal- but that I was simply compiling a list of reasons for wanting to hide. And that God was asking me, like Moses, to simply give what was in my hand, not a literal shepherds staff, but my leadership experiences and gifts.

So I put in an application, still with lots of questions esp re workload(!). And after 3 interviews, the job was offered. And after 4 Team Taylor family conferences, we decided to let my name go forward to the Synod of South Australia Standing Committee. They met during the week past, with the news becoming public Friday, once College staff and Leadership Development Council had been informed.

It’s a responsible job – a staff of 13, offering training from certificate level all the way through to PhD and at distance locally and nationally, training ministers and lay leaders. The College is in a major change process, wanting to train leaders to be more innovative and outward looking and I think the panel thought I could bring some skills and passion in that area.

Uniting College for Leadership and Theology isn’t a repackaged version of what we’ve always done in theological education. It’s a fresh start – a fresh departure. It’s not a comment on what we’ve done in the past. It’s a response to the demands and opportunities of mission today. It’s not the best thing that’s ever happened in theological education. It’s simply the next thing that has to happen for the College to serve this pilgrim people on the journey.

For more, go here.

I’m nervous and scared, but also really excited.

looking in the writing mirror

Over the next two days, the educational body I work for (Adelaide College of Divinity) is being externally audited (by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency). For most of this year, we’ve been working on our portfolio, thinking about what we do well, and what we could do better, collecting evidence to demonstrate our practice. The audtors received a folder, about 8 cm thick. Today and tomorrow they visit, interviewing students, past and present, boards, stakeholders, staff. Late tomorrow, they give us verbal feedback. This is then written up and we have the right of reply. Then their findings are made public, including sent to other universities (and I think, even to Parliament!)

It’s a lot of work, but also a chance to look at ourselves in the mirror, and thus to open ourselves to growth.

As part of the process, staff have been asked to provide examples of what they are writing and thinking about. It was fun to look back over the last few (six) years, in the midst of being Senior Pastor and part-time lecturer ….

to catch a glimpse of hard work. And of growth.

it’s the edits that kill me. any helpful hints?

I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to get my head into edits of written material in preparation for publication. Here’s how I currently experience the writing process

• Speak – I use conferences and keynotes to present my research. I have an aural learning preference, so speaking stuff verbally helps me process my thinking. Plus I get interaction with the wider academic community. There’s a deadline and it’s a buzz.
• Write – Then I write the work up. Conferences tend to only want 20 to 35 minutes, ie never the full paper. Further, someone reading a written paper is hard to listen to. So having spoken, I then take the time to lengthen and strengthen, often building in the spoken feedback. It’s hard to find the time, but it feels creative.
• Contract – The written piece then goes into that black hole, in which publishers do their work. What every writer thinks is their world changing work gets weighed in regard to viability. Markets can scanned, trends get considered. What you though important, unique, fresh, your work is tested. If unsuccessful, then you look for another source. When successful, you get an email, often with a contract form to sign.  You then proceed into the stage that is currently killing me.
• Edits – At some point, your written work comes back. Changes are suggested. Alterations are asked for. This can be up to 2 years after your initial submission. Generally the request is unannounced and suddenly arrives. Generally all have short deadlines.  And the accompanying note that this is a final step before publication.

I’m not complaining. But I’m not finding it easy. My Myers Briggs personality type is strongly Perceiving, not Judging. In other words, deadlines and precision don’t energise me. So a final edit in which every word in a 6,000 word chapter will be committed to a printed page is scarey.  My Belbin profile includes being a plant ie I’m really good at starting things and initating change.

I’m also finding that the editing involves getting my head back into stuff I’ve left well behind. In the last month I’ve found myself editing a piece from December 2010, a piece from February 2011, a piece from April 2011 and a piece from July 2009. And the 2009 piece was a coupling together of some written work from 2003, mixed with some ongoing reading. It all means I’ve got to get my head back into stuff that is long gone.

I know in my head that the editing need not take long. Often I’m surprised by how little time it takes. But you  don’t know that until you start. And in the midst of everything else I juggle, it’s hard to craft that time. I don’t find it a creative process, so an early morning does not beckon. Work is busy, so there’s not often uninterrupted space.

In my head, my perfectionist tendencies fight with the 80/20 rule; the desire to be very careful vs the knowledge that I’ve done most of the important work, so how much does this matter. Yet, I hate finding a mistake in a book, and I don’t want to be shoddy.

So it’s the edit phase in the writing process that are currently killing me. I want to start some new projects, but I need to complete what I’ve started. I’m not complaining, I’m delighted to have the opportunity to publish. But I write this wondering if I’m alone and if any readers have any helpful hints on how they negotiate the editing phase, especially when one has multiple projects on the go and at different phrases and in the midst of everyday life?