We've Hit the Blog-o-Sphere

Check out Andrew Thompson's comments on our proposal.

Living Wage Calculator

Nick brought to our attention a great website that puts this proposal in perspective and offers another way to figure our potential income. Here it is. Its a living wage calculator.

Agenda for 08-09 School Year

Our fledgling group met today to discuss what we needed to talk about next year. Here's what we came up with in the order that they came up (and not necessarily by order of priority):

1. Connection to other groups/movements (Order of St. Luke, Benedictines, Neo-monastics, UMW Monastery, etc.)
2. What to do with debt?
3. Roles (exploratory, novice, etc.)
4. What do with excess money?
5. How to navigate the boundary between hospitality and the parsonage?
6. What are the various forms of hospitality?
7. Should a rule or covenant be specific and detailed or broad and general?
8. What to do when a spouse doesn't "buy in"?
9. How to plan for children's colleges, emergencies, or big expenses?
10. What should an average budget look like?
11. Does the "minimum" conference salary have any room for negotiation? (i.e. more children, graduated tithe?)
12. How would we support one another within the order itself (emergencies, etc.)?
13. How will we navigate the large geographic distances between us?
14. Will there be annual meetings and what will they look like?
15. How will we handle accountability?
16. Sharing Tips for simple living
17. Beginning now to be transparent with our personal budgets
18. A theology of evangelism, making disciples, witness
19. How to witness to the church as a whole?
20. What would lay-chapters look like?
21. What would non-UMC chapters look like?

And then very practically
1. We will meet bi-weekly next school year at one another's homes for potluck dinners
2. We will share the responsibility of writing/authoring a covenant

Did I miss anything?

A Theoretical Budget Proposal

Here is a draft budget proposal for what it might look like to live with the guidelines from the Order of St. James. Its not perfect and some of it is not even filled in. But there is $8000 left unallocated in the end. So there's plenty of wiggle room.

Income		Monthly	Yearly
Salary			35,329
Housing Allowance			10,000
Health Insurance			12,200
Pension			5200
Continuing Ed
Travel Expenses
Etc.
Total Income			62,729
Expenses		Monthly	Yearly
Auto	Fuel	150	1800
	Insurance	63	756
	Service	200	2400
	Taxes	6	72
	Saving	100	1200
Auto Total		519	6228
Blessings	Tithe	294	3532
Cash		20	240
Clothing		42	500
Dates	Weekly	80	1040
	Anniversary	17	200
	Birthdays	8	100
Dates Total		105	1340
Entertainment		20	240
Food	Eat-out	25	300
	Groceries	400	4800
Food Total		425	5100
Household	Haircuts	15	180
	Computer	15	180
	Maintenance/Repair	40	480
	Operations	40	480
	Postage	9	108
	Yard	10	120
Household Total		129	1548
Insurance	Disability	13	154
	Home Owners	42	500
	Life	38	453
	Medical - Church	1000	12,200
	Medical	167	2004
Insurance Total		1260	15311
Medical	Dentist	33	400
	Doctor	20	240
	Medicine	30	360
Medical Total		83	1000
Housing		833	10,000
Pension		433	5,200
Savings
Taxes
Utilities	Landline	30	360
	Cell	30	360
	Electric	60	720
	Gas	100	1200
	Water & Sewer	30	360
Utilities Total		250	3000
Vacation		83	1000
Loans/Debt
Grand Total		4496	54,239

Some Quotes on Money

While Wesley's "Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can" was generally looked down upon in our Ethics class and in Kelly Johnson's Fear of Beggars book, I believe that these presentations of Wesley's Sermon On The Use of Money were more caricatures than full engagements with what Wesley has to say in this sermon; especially in the context of the rest of his life. Read the whole sermon. It is well worth the time. Here is a quote from Wesley's Sermon that I think summarizes this idea of an Order of St. James:

"Gain all you can, without hurting either yourself or your neighbour, in soul or body, by applying hereto with unintermitted diligence, and with all the understanding which God has given you; -- save all you can, by cutting off every expense which serves only to indulge foolish desire; to gratify either the desire of flesh, the desire of the eye, or the pride of life; waste nothing, living or dying, on sin or folly, whether for yourself or your children; -- and then, give all you can, or, in other words, give all you have to God. Do not stint yourself...to this or that proportion. 'Render unto God,' not a tenth, not a third, not half, but all that is God's, be it more or less; by employing all on yourself, your household, the household of faith, and all mankind, in such a manner, that you may give a good account of your stewardship when ye can be no longer stewards; in such a manner as the oracles of God direct, both by general and particular precepts; in such a manner, that whatever ye do may be 'a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savour to God,' and that every act may be rewarded in that day when the Lord cometh with all his saints."

Then the other day I was reading from C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters and came across this advice from Screwtape (the senior devil) to his mentor, Wormwood (the junior devil) regarding the Christian Wormwood has been given to tempt (please excuse Lewis' gender specific language):

"If, on the other hand, the middle years prove prosperous, our position is even stronger. Prosperity knits a man to the World. He feels that he is 'finding his place in it', while really it is finding its place in him. His increasing reputation, his widening circle of acquaintances, his sense of importance, the growing pressure of absorbing and agreeable work, build up in him a sense of being really at home in earth, which is just what we want. You will notice that the young are generally less unwilling to die than the middle-aged and the old."

And lastly, I was reading from Psalm 62 this morning:

"Though wealth increase, set not your heart upon it" (62:12).

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Non-UMCs, Non-clergy, etc.?

Can those who aren't UMCs or clergy participate? Absolutely. I imagine a lay chapter, a chapter in each denomination, and so on. This is a big vision.