I hope to be “at work,” but probably not this kind. I have a bad hip and shoulder.
As I mentioned about a month ago (see “We’re going to San Antonio.”) my wife and I will be leaving Oregon for Texas. I should work my last day at Western Seminary on September 12th and we will be on the road a few days later. I don’t have a job waiting for me in San Antonio so I thought I’d use my blog to “test the waters” to see if any readers have any leads to share. I can do administrative work in an academic or church context. I have done associate pastoral work as well as youth pastoral work. I want to teach and write, but I know I need to earn more merit for that to be a day-to-day reality. If someone knows something I don’t know please share. At this juncture I have not seriously considered public school education, but if that changes I will say something. (My CV can be accessed here.)
If you do have a lead please feel free to leave a comment or email me at brianleport@gmail.com.
July 23, 2012 at 4:34 pm
God’s speed finding a job Brian – prayers for you and your wife! Feeling any trepidation about your decisions?
July 23, 2012 at 8:50 pm
Ever considered doing Youth MInistry? There are job postings from San Antonio at a few of the YM sites.
July 23, 2012 at 9:08 pm
Andrew
No, I feel good overall. There are too many positives to moving for me to be worried about getting a job right away. If it is late October/early November and I don’t have a job then I might feel a bit unnerved!
Rod
I did interim youth pastoring in 2006, so I do have experience there. What sites are these? I will take a look.
July 24, 2012 at 5:20 am
Brian, Check your DMs
July 24, 2012 at 8:32 am
Excellent, thanks!
July 24, 2012 at 9:26 am
Brian, not to seem negative, but my respect for you will be diminished if you find employment with John Hagee Ministries.
July 24, 2012 at 9:28 am
Um, I don’t think that is going to happen. I am critical of churches placing the American flag in the sanctuary. I think Hagee is a “tad” worse that.
July 24, 2012 at 9:43 am
(Off topic) I think I’ve seen you say that before – Contextually, I think that is an American sensitivity (and I have seen it debated elsewhere – though never about whether or not the Union Jack, Canadian, or Austrialian flags should be seen in churches). I’m curious about it.
Is it because you feel the distinction between faith and nationalism are being made ambiguous (church and state type of thing), or because faith is being sold on the back of nationalism or the other way round (nationalism is being sold in the back of faith), or something else?
Is it deeper; do you think faithful Christian’s should be fervent for their country (though not at the expense of fervour for God)?
July 24, 2012 at 9:54 am
We struggle with the temptation to equate our citizenship as Americans with our citizenship as Christians. This is part of the reason why we lack a prophetic voice. Rather, we fall into the partisan categories of our nation’s political structure. Our Christianity is often Republican or Democrat rather than a Christianity than stands outside both and can speak to both. That is my first concern.
My second concern is that we are a nation involved in war all over the world.That causes us to have a “history” with many people from all over the place. I don’t want someone from Vietnam or Japan to enter a place of worship here in the United States and sense that the Christian God supports all that America does. I’m not saying he is against everything we do, but we’ve done some things quite bad. When the flag flies over the sanctuary it draws attention from the cross and it allows for us to make the easy transition to doing things like celebrating war veterans during a Sunday worship gathering–a time when Christ should be the focus and when my brothers and sister in Christ from all over the world should be able to share my heavenly citizenship with me without being reminded of the national allegiances that separate us.
July 24, 2012 at 9:56 am
As far as fervor for country? Well, I guess that depends what that means. I like the USA. I wouldn’t do anything to harm it. I want it to be a great nation. But I don’t want to become nationalistic. I don’t want to say “God bless America” as if America deserves something the rest of the world does not. I want to love my neighbor, so I try to be a good citizen, but I realize that while my immediate neighbor may live in this nation that doesn’t exclude my global neighbor. So I like my country, but I think “fervor” could be dangerously uncritical.
July 25, 2012 at 8:04 am
Brian said “.. fall into the partisan categories of our nation’s political structure.”
That’s certainly true.
It is certainly evident to non-Americans (in dialogue with Americans) when this filter appears to be taking effect. American politics may have two camps, but faith and indeed the rest of the world doesn’t (always) fall nicely into one of two pigeon holes (even if sometimes it appears to).
It’s particularly problematic in speaking on issues of faith (between Christians) since it represents a filter one party possesses that the other might not. I completely agree ‘Christianity should stand outside both and speak to both.’ Spot on!
WRT to America’s history of foreign relations, I don’t deny that your country has also done some ‘quite bad’ – but your country has also done some ‘very good’ things. Indeed, sometimes the US is the only country willing to do ‘quite good things’ in the face of criticism from an otherwise hostile world. Surely you can see the balance in that?
July 25, 2012 at 8:42 am
Of course, our history is a mixed bag.