life as carnival

 

it looked like an enjoyable event

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3qv-yyXnrw

Who picked up the bill this time?

Hi Dcn. Jae,

 

 

Applicants belonged to two arbitrary demographics.  Those demographics were the 40 and under or the 41 and over.

 

As part of the discernment committee vetting the applications of the 41 and over crowd I can tell you that the individual applicants were responsible for securing their own funding.  The United Church of Canada does have, on an annual basis some money set aside to assist members.

 

Typically that assistance maxes out at 33% of registration fees.  The applicant is responsible for meals and accommodation plus the balance of the registration fees.

 

I believe that Edge (a ministry unit within The United Church of Canada) was responsible for selecting the applicants from the 40 and under demographic and that Edge had budgetted monies to either assist applicants or cover their registration.

 

I probably have that info in one of my e-mail folders somewhere if I get an afternoon to browse through several inboxes I might be able to dig it up.  It will definitely not be a priority for me.

 

I'm reasonably confident that we didn't exert undue influence on a crown corporation.  Sorry if that robs you of an opportunity to be indignant.

 

By the way did VIA Rail ever get back to you about your inquiry into the past Moderator's train trip?

 

Grace and peace to you.

John

 

 

Thank you Rev. John. It's good to hear that the UCCanada is paying its own way.

What an odd question.

 

You opened the door, Jae. I think it's an excellent question. I also recall that you were going to take that up with VIA. Whatever happened with that?

 

 

This is an awesome festival. I'm glad UCC did this. I'd LOVE to go to this! A friend and I have been talking about going to Wild Goose next year. Similar, but North American version.

Here's some info- U2, Bruce Cockburn, The Proclaimers and Billy Bragg have played at Greenbelt in the past. I read an article about Bono dressing in disguise to sneak back and talk to Bruce Cockburn- apparently he admires him. Two Christians I admire. Anyway- a lot going on there. Very exciting!

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenbelt_festival

This is an awesome idea.

Hi Dcn. Jae,

 

 

As opposed to when?

 

 

In what way is it an odd question?  To the best of my ability the only time I am aware of you alledging that The United Church of Canada has not paid its own way was the former Moderator's Spirit Express when she travelled across the country by train.

 

You were demanding an accounting of your tax dollars and insinuating that The United Church of Canada was guilty of somehow forcing VIA Rail to pay for the trip.

 

It was quite a lengthy thread, I'm sure you remember it.

 

For simplicity sake I'll quote the relevant portion from the thread in question.  For any interested in that thread it is here:

 

http://www.wondercafe.ca/discussion/church-life/moderators-spirit-expres...

 

And the most relevant part of that thread is:

 

 

To which you responded:

 

 

So my asking about how your conversation with VIA Rail went isn't so odd. 

 

Unless it is odd to ask you whether or not you followed up on the conversation you said you would have.

 

Did you contact VIA Rail?  Did they respond to your questions?

 

Grace and peace to you.

John

How did this thread become about Dcn. Jae?

Quoting my own post because I was just thinking that as much as I really like the idea of using modern and not specifically "churchy" music for worship- many secular artists have Christian themes (Bono has discussed the Christian influence in his music) and I really like the idea of playing thought provoking and current music like some of U2's, in church- I like the newness- I think a lot of youngish people would love to see newness- but I don't like the idea of deifying U2 and their publicity machine. It was just so weird- I liked it for that reason alone! But I think we could do different things without idolizing U2. They get more than enough attention.

Basically, I wish church was like Greenbelt every Sunday.

I asked the question of who was paying for the Greenbelt event. Others took it from there.

Sure jae that is all you did. I mean you are just curious right? You weren't insinuating anything right jae? You made part of this thread about you because that is what you do and then you complain about being the victim when someone take you to task. Anyway carry on doing what you do I find it somewhat amusing.

You're trolling again. You want to elicit strong responses. It's what you do.

 

Actually, we are the ones who made it about Jae. If Jae's comments had been ignored, then this thread would have remained on topic. If people want to know about whether or not Jae actually spoke to VIA, then I suggest they start a new thread. 

 

Now, can we get back on topic please? Did anyone from this board go to Greenbelt? From what I've seen here and on Facebook, it looks like it was amazing!

Why ignore my comment? Asking who paid for an event is perfectly legitimate. In any case, I agree, let's return to the topic of the OP.

Hi somegalfromcan,

 

 

Truth to tell it wasn't "we" who made this thread about Jae.  If someone is to blame point the finger at me.  And from where I sit the thread has become more about Jae's integrity than anything else.

 

I'm the one who took the bait.  Even though the hook was so obvious.  The false witness he chose to bear at that time and continues to bear through to this thread is glaring.

 

That said, I note Jae has not responded to the question so I'm guessing that he decided not to question VIA Rail.

 

Which means he clearly isn't interested in the truth of the matter he simply desires to beat on The United Church of Canada.

 

I honoured his question and explained how the participation of The United Church of Canada was expensed.

 

He has chosen not to answer questions put to him about his initial grievance and the old bone of a lie he continues to worry.

 

While not at all about Greenbelt it at the very least a matter of justice.

 

I have asked a question of Jae it is up to him to decide whether he will or will not answer it.  Any time he decides to perpetuate the lie he has concocted about The United Church of Canada and how it funds participation in any project I reserve the right to ask him if he has followed up on his decision to question VIA Rail.

 

I will have an opportunity to talk to one Greenbelt participant this morning.  I'd be happy to share his impressions on the event later.

 

Grace and peace to you.

John

 

 

So I met with the Rev. Aaron Miller our freshly minted Chair of Presbytery and attender of Greenbelt.

 

This is what he had to say.

 

The Festival was immensely huge in scope and attendance.  Mind-boggingly huge and without the schedule (a $7 dollar app) it would have been an easy thing to get lost and miss a desired portion of the programming.

 

Aaron is still sorting through the whole experience to try and distill it into easily managed portions.

 

His favourite part of the program was a poetry reading (my apologies I cannot remember the poet)  He was so taken in by the poet's work that he immediately went out and dropped $114 Canadian on poetry books.

 

Apart from that he was very impressed with the Hymns and Beer workshop.  Where they drank beer and sang some of the chestnuts of the Christian faith.  Aaorn guessed that there were about 1400 folk at that particular workshop and they all sang the hymns together.  That would have been awesome.

 

At another workshop they sang "Shine Jesus Shine" with Graham Kendrick which for some was "over the top" and for others "no big wup".  Aaron thought that it was entertaining that the Beer and Hymn people dissed on Kendrick which I am sure was all in fun.

 

Aaron attended to workshops by John Bell out of the Iona Community saying the first was excellent and the second seemed like Bell was making stuff up as he went along.

 

Aaron also said that two lecture he attended be folk who tend to rub him the wrong way also rubbed him the wrong way.  I admire very much that he was willing to give them a chance live only to find that they speak like they write.

 

One thing Aaron took away from Greenbelt was the organizers insistence that the Greenbelt initiative can't save the Church but it would be nice if it did.  The world needs more than Christian festivals apparently.

 

I will get a chance to talk to another participant an a few weeks at Presbytery.

 

Grace and peace to you.

John

Aaron......you have to ask....LOL... I hear ya.  Thanks for the smile.

This is wonderful........lets dance....!!!!

 

That is wonderful! Thanks for posting it Stardust!

Kimmio