Cross-Country Bike Ride to End in Toms River Brings Light to Brain Injury @NJShorePatch

Doug Markgraf’s cross country fundraising and awareness bike ride will end in Toms River August 21.

The finish line is in sight for Doug Markgraf, a traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivor who is due arrive in Toms River August 21 after cycling across the country alone to raise money and awareness for TBI. Markgraf chose the location to highlight the work of Health South Rehabilitation Hospital of Toms River.

“Ocean County is very lucky to have an acute rehabilitation hospital,” said Denice Gaffney, director of Marketing Operations at Health South. “Not everyone has that level of care available to them locally.”

“We’re hoping to connect Doug with our brain injury survivors and our therapy team,” she said.

Markgraf, of Philadelphia, has been meeting with TBI survivors throughout the trip and was five miles outside Smyrna, Ohio when Patch talked to him Thursday afternoon.

“It’s blown me away that people who need that extra boost are getting it by me riding and meeting them,” said Markgraf.

Read the whole inspirational story at Toms River Patch.

 Posted on August 17, 2011 by

 Community, Family, Friendship, Leadership, Medicine, Redemption, Social Action, Travel, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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Faith at Work, Part 7: Putting It All Together @TheHighCalling

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Figuring out how to integrate our faith with our work is a primary interest for the High Calling community. In our series about the work of Laity Leadership Institute Senior Fellow David W. Miller, we learned about four ways people do this and about a Hebrew concept that Miller says undergirds the Faith at Work movement.

Investigating the Sunday/Monday Gap

In the first article, we learned that Miller was flourishing in his career as a senior executive and partner at a London bank, and felt called to that career. But he seldom, if ever, heard clergy talk about how to integrate faith and work, even as he intuitively viewed work as part of God’s created order. If work mattered to God, why weren’t clergy talking about it?

To his surprise, Miller gradually discerned a new calling to attend Princeton Theological Seminary, where he earned an MDiv. and then a PhD. in Social Ethics, focusing almost exclusively on the question of integrating faith and work. This question continues to be central to his teaching and research at Princeton University, and to his consulting work with CEOs and businesses.

“I suppose people are drawn to study things either because they’re really good at it or because they’re not really good at it. I was drawn to this subject of integrating faith and work because of my own professional experience of asking how to overcome the Sunday/Monday gap,” said Miller.

A Theological Foundation

In the second article, we learned that the Hebrew concept of avodah provides a theological foundation for Miller’s work. …

Read the whole rest at The High Calling.

 Posted on August 13, 2011 by

 Books, Capitalism, Community, Culture, Education, Ethics, Faith, Family, Friendship, grief, History, Leadership, Public Square, Redemption, Social Action, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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Who’s at Fault in the Debt Ceiling Debate @NJShorePatch

Former New Jersey Secretary of State DeForest Soaries says the vitriolic debate is a reflection of a new, negative era of Republican leadership.

“Compared to the Tea Party, Gov. Whitman was a Democrat,” said the Rev. Dr. DeForest Soaries Jr. when I interviewed him Monday about the federal budget debate for UrbanFaith.com.

Soaries was New Jersey Secretary of State under Christine Todd Whitman and a two-time political appointee of George W. Bush. He is pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, and said he weaves instruction on financial responsibility and economic opportunity into every sermon he preaches.

He is also author of dfree: Breaking Free from Financial Slavery. The book and First Baptist’s personal finance program were featured last fall in CNN’s Black in America “Almighty Debt” documentary.

“I had no philosophical or ideological conflict working with the Republicans in New Jersey because, prior to Chris Christie, the Republicans in New Jersey were very moderate. In fact, the Republicans in North Jersey were actually more progressive than the Democrats in South Jersey,” said Soaries.

He was reacting to a federal budget fight that brought the United States to the brink of defaulting on its loans for the first time in history. …

Read the rest at Manasquan Patch.

 Posted on August 4, 2011 by

 Capitalism, Christianity, church life, Community, Culture, Ethics, Faith, Leadership, Politics, Public Square, Social Action, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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Faith at Work, Part 6: Expressing Spiritual Values @TheHighCalling

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“In the spring of 2009, on the eve of graduation, a small group of us at Harvard Business School found ourselves staring into a great abyss instead of standing on the threshold of new and exciting careers. We understood that the moment we received our diplomas, regardless of our good intentions and moral foundations, we would be cast in the roles of the Darth Vaders of the businessworld.”

This is what Max Anderson and his co-author Peter Escher wrote in the introduction to their book The MBA Oath: Setting a Higher Standard for Business Leaders about the business climate into which they were graduating from one of the world’s most prestigious schools.

Instead of sulking to the finish line of receiving their expensive MBAs, Anderson and some classmates came up with the idea for a professional oath that would not only communicate to others their intention to do things differently than the MBAs who had contributed to the financial crisis of 2008, but would keep them accountable to one another.

Anderson talked to Laity Leadership Institute Senior Fellow David W. Miller about the oath at a Princeton University Faith & Work initiative event. He said he and his buddies envisioned 100 of their 900 classmates signing it. Instead, The New York Times and other media got a hold of the story. The oath has now been signed by more than 5000 MBAs around the world and corporations are inquiring about how they can use it to screen potential employees. …

Read the rest at The High Calling.

 Posted on August 4, 2011 by

 Community, Culture, Ethics, Faith, Leadership, Public Square, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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Hugs & Hospitality at Wright Memorial Church @BarnegatPatch

Congregation that meets in former opera house welcomes visitors with music and warmth.

“Life is desperate; we need all the hugs we can get,” said Rev. Bob Lewis after Sunday morning worship at Wright Memorial Presbyterian Church, Barnegat, NJWright Memorial Presbyterian Church.

He was standing at the foot of the church’s front steps greeting people after the service. There were hugs for the men and kisses on the cheek for the women. He inquired warmly about each person’s concerns and sent them on their way.

This kind of affection permeated the morning.

At 9 a.m., people gathered for coffee and conversation, Lewis said.

“Sometimes it’s religious. Sometimes it’s just funny and jokes,” he said.

At 10 a.m., Lewis began strumming his guitar and singing modern worship songs while congregants arrived and chatted. Music has always been important to the congregation, in keeping with its history as a former opera house that was foreclosed upon and purchased by the Presbytery of Monmouth in 1877, a church brochure said. …

Read the rest at Barnegat Patch.

 Posted on July 27, 2011 by

 church life, Community, Culture, Faith, Family, Friendship, Leadership, Theology, Travel, Walkin' the Talk

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Faith at Work, Part 5: Drawing Enrichment from Deep Wells @TheHighCalling

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Dale Jones is a vice chairman and partner at Heidrick & Struggles, one of the nation’s top executive search firms. He advises boards and CEOs on human capital issues such as leadership, recruiting and succession planning, but a few years ago, Jones sensed a calling to do something about the problem of global water. Together with the founders of America Online, Steve and Jean Case, he pursued an innovative plan to bring clean drinking water to rural villages in sub-Saharan Africa. The plan involved installing merry-go-rounds that pumped water from the ground as children played on them.

“Villages get water for the first time, and to see the rejoicing of families and children is pretty incredible,” said Jones in an interview with Laity Leadership Senior Fellow David W. Miller this spring.

“It was really a time in my life when I needed to do something that would feed the soul, but it was also a chance for my family to be on a journey that we were part of something that had a greater sense of mission and serving people’s needs,” said Jones.

Eventually the PlayPumps project was folded into a larger water project and Jones returned to his work atHeidrick & Struggles. As enriching as the experience was, Jones sensed that his real calling was to the search business. He realized he is most effective connecting people with particular skills and character to organizations that have matching needs and he speaks of  leveraging people with resources to take action. One third of his work at Heidrick & Struggles is devoted to the firm’s social enterprise practice.

Figuring out how to integrate his faith and his passion for humanitarian projects into his daily corporate work is “the crux” of who he is, Jones said.

“I wake up everyday thinking about it,” he said. …

Read the rest at The High Calling.

 Posted on July 27, 2011 by

 Community, Ethics, Faith, Family, Leadership, Public Square, Race, Redemption, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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Exuberant Hospitality at First Baptist Church @NJShorePatch

First Baptist Church of Manasquan, NJExuberant hospitality. That’s how I’d describe Sunday morning worship at First Baptist Church of Manasquan.

The worship band was playing before the service began July 17 and soon after I sat down Rev. Joseph Gratzel came over and gave me a tote bag that held a travel mug, a Bible, and information about the church.

“Have you been mugged?” he asked with a smile.

The service began seamlessly with modern worship and two “Pandamania” songs led by Vacation Bible School students. Associate Pastor Martha Bevacqua asked for prayer requests and the congregation called out a host of personal concerns before saying the Lord’s prayer together.

A sign language interpreter translated the service for hearing impaired worshipers and Senior Pastor Joseph Gratzel’s son Gavin called out questions from the back of the room until his dad gently instructed him to be quiet. …

Read the rest at Manasquan Patch.

 Posted on July 24, 2011 by

 church life, Community, Faith, Family, Leadership, Public Square, Redemption, Social Action, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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Faith at Work, Part 4: Turning Corporate Leadership Upside Down @TheHighCalling

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Ken Melrose is well known for employing a model of servant leadership to turn around the Toro company when it was on the verge of bankruptcy. Earlier this year, he returned to Princeton University, his alma mater, to talk to Laity Leadership Institute Senior Fellow David W. Miller about the circuitous path he took to becoming a servant leader himself.

Melrose told Miller’s Faith and Ethics in the Executive Suite audience that his dream was to make $50,000 a year as a marketing manager.

“If I could have done that, I would have been a happy clam for the rest of my life,” said Melrose.

He went to work for Pillsbury after earning an MBA at the University of Chicago. Then his boss talked him into starting a technology business together. The business went bankrupt.

“When the Toro job came along, I didn’t want to get into the lawn care business, but I took the job.”

Not exactly an auspicious start to a stellar career.

Miller places Melrose’s style of integrating faith and work in the Experience category of The Integration Box (TIB). In God at Work, Miller says these believers view work as a calling that has “both intrinsic and extrinsic meaning and purpose.” Thus it’s no surprise Melrose sometimes talked about his work in terms of his personal dissatisfaction with it.

Read the rest at The High Calling.

 Posted on July 24, 2011 by

 Culture, Ethics, Faith, Leadership, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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What I Wrote This Week @UrbanFaith: July 11-15

Hitchhiker, NYC

  • Foreclosures Hit Churches Hard: A troubling increase in church foreclosures, especially among African American congregations, has us wondering whether too many churches have jeopardized their witness for the sake of an extravagant new building.
  • Was Slavery Better for Black Children?  After presidential candidate Michele Bachmann signed a traditional marriage pledge with potentially racist elements, the pundits piled on. But is their behavior any better than hers?
  • Death Row Inmates Want Pastoral Care: Where should justice and mercy meet when it comes to the lives of prisoners who are facing the death penalty?

I also began work on a story about a black led Tea Party group’s plan to protest the NAACP national convention. Look for it soon.

 Posted on July 17, 2011 by

 church life, Community, Culture, Democracy, Ethics, Faith, History, Leadership, Politics, Public Square, Race, Redemption, Social Action, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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Faith at Work, Part 3: Uncompromising Ethics @TheHighCalling

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Jimmy Dunne is, by his own admission, a man who sees the world in black and white. In a time when shades of gray are increasingly admired, this is not always a popular perspective. But Dunne’s singular vision became a bright light for others to follow after his workplace was decimated by terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Dunne is Senior Managing Principal for Sandler O’Neill, an investment banking firm that  suffered the loss of one-third of its 171 member workforce on 9/11/01.

At a 2010 Princeton University event, “Faith & Work Ethics in the Executive Suite,” Dunne spoke at length with Laity Leadership Institute Senior Fellow David W. Miller about his decision making process in the first harrowing days after he learned that his partners, friends, and coworkers had been killed. Nine-and-a-half years after suffering those losses, Dunne was still emotional about them.

He had survived the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, but was on the golf course the morning of September 11, 2001, when he learned of the second attacks. Thinking about the needs of spouses and children left behind, he quickly decided that these grieving families would receive salaries, medical benefits, and bonuses owed to their missing loved ones. …

Read the rest of this inspiring story at The High Calling.

 Posted on July 14, 2011 by

 Community, Culture, Ethics, Faith, Family, Friendship, grief, History, Leadership, Public Square, Redemption, Social Action, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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Celebrating the King James Bible @NJShorePatch

Museum of Biblical Art in New York hosts exhibit celebrating translation’s 400th anniversary.

1611 King James Bible at MOBIAWhile there are plenty of places to celebrate a special anniversary right here at the Jersey Shore, for one as monumental as the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, a trip into New York City to see On Eagles’ Wings at the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA) is just the thing.

The exhibit features a number of historic manuscripts, including a 1611 first folio edition of the bible and a 1440 New Testament. It also includes a collection of breathtaking paintings (my photos don’t do them justice) that contemporary artist Makoto Fujimura created to illustrate a Crossway Books commemorative edition of The Four Holy Gospels.  …

For a full picture of this wonderful celebration, go to Manasquan Patch.

 Posted on July 14, 2011 by

 Art, Books, church life, Culture, Faith, History, Politics, Public Square, Theology, Walkin' the Talk

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What I Wrote This Week @UrbanFaith: July 4-8

Hitchhiker, NYC

It was a short work week because of the Fourth of July holiday, so even though I wrote three posts for Urban Faith, only one was published this week, and perhaps that’s appropriate given that it’s a bit of an apologetic for my role as News & Religion editor at the site.

The post was inspired by an article about the relaunch of AOL Huffington Post’s Black Voices and included a quote from Ed Gilbreath explaining his vision for Urban Faith. Here are bits and piece of the post, but I encourage you to read the whole thing.

“During the early days of the AOL Huffington Post merger, we had a chuckle when Arianna Huffington was named editor-in-chief of an array of AOL blogs outside her area of expertise … perhaps most glaringly, Black Voices.” So began an article in The New York Observer about the site’s re-launch. …

As news and religion editor at Urban Faith, I’m keenly aware of my own limitations in communicating stories that reflect authentic African American experience and interest, which is why I’m enormously grateful for the black men and women who contribute the majority of UF’s content. …

Urban Faith, on the other hand, has a specific, yet broad vision. Here’s how it was described in a 2008 pre-launch email I received from editor Ed Gilbreath:

“Urban Ministries, Inc. is an African American-owned company. Our core audience is black, and UrbanFaith.com will naturally be rooted in that perspective. At the same time, recognizing the beauty of diversity in God’s kingdom, UrbanFaith.com will strive to also be ethnically inclusive and multicultural in flavor.

Today, urban culture transcends racial boundaries and covers many different socio-economic backgrounds. What’s more, Christians who are engaged in the exciting call to urban ministry come from all races and walks of life. UrbanFaith.com will be more about a way of looking at the world than where folks live or the color of their skin. It will be both for those who make their home in an urban setting and for those who care about the people, culture, and issues related to urban life.” …

Read the whole post here. And, look for those other two articles and more next week.

 Posted on July 8, 2011 by

 About the Explorer, Blogging, Culture, Ethics, Faith, Gabriel Gifford Scheller, grief, History, Public Square, Race, Redemption, Social Action, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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