You might be surprised to discover, that there are estimated to be about two thousand homeless men, women and children living in St. Augustine.  You’ve probably ran across a few panhandlers asking for some help, but there are far more living in the back woods, hiding in old cars, trying to make it on their own, many who would never ask nor accept a dime.  Men and women actively seeking work, but in these times and this economy, they have found themselves homeless.  How many of you are living paycheck to paycheck?  When we think of this, we realize most of us could easily find ourselves in the same situation.

We meet these people sunday nights at the Plaza.  They come for food, clothing, shoes and fellowship provided by various organizations.  They thank us for “all we do” but really, in my heart I just don’t feel like we’re doing enough!You might think that there are plenty of people, many organizations and churches helping out and the truth is there are many, but still a great lack remains.

I once believed that every town had a homeless shelter and if somebody really wanted help, all they had to do was seek it.  Years ago I lived in Las Vegas, and as you can imagine there were a lot of homeless.  People would get stuck there after gambling and drinking it all away, with no way to get home.  I remember one day I ran across a man and I didn’t have anything but my lunch which I offered and in disgust he turned away upset.  At that point I will admit, my heart hardened towards the needy. 

Deuteronomy 15:7

“If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your poor brother.”

As always, G-d had a plan, and would work on my heart!

 I was listening to a show on the local Christian radio station about a couple guys who went “under cover”.  They decided to live on the streets as the homeless and to minister to them by their worship, praise and glorifying G-d in all of it.  He described the hunger, the sickness, all the things you would imagine, but one thing caught me and grabbed at my heart!  He explained how people didn’t even acknowledge their existence.  Children would look at them dead in the eye, yet the parents would walk by without a glance.  He explained how someone taking the time to talk to them would brighten up their day, because in that instance they felt human again.  To me, this was like a punch to the stomach.  I too had walked past others with the same demeanor, and I called myself a Christian. 

Luke 10:30-34
“And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.  And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.  But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,  And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him”. 

 I could not say that I had served my Lord, no, I was not the Samaritan in this parable, but the priest and levite,walking aside, chasing after the cares of my day and this world…which are you?

If you don’t live in St. Augustine you’re most likely unaware of the magnificence of all the white lights, the red bows and  huge Christmas tree up at this time of the year.  You would also be surprised to know how many families come to see these lights.  Here lies our problem, the city of St. Augustine prides itself in its beauty.  Now picture the homeless being fed, boxes of clothes and shoes strewn out on the grass right in the middle of the plaza next to their beloved Christmas tree is to some exactly hand in hand, but to others an eye sore.  It has been expressed that we not continue this service at the Plaza, claiming we are unlawfully assembled!  I feel that soon this will be shut down, and others involved are discussing a new location.

The truth of the matter is the Plaza has served as an easy to reach distribution area, St. Francis House, (St. Augustine’s Homeless shelter) is in walking distance of this area, but even this shelter houses less than twenty men and women, no place for families or children.  We need a call to action, we need a permanent facility, not another location to assemble.  As the oldest city in the nation why are we without a shelter able to provide our city’s needs? 

I think this  is a call to our churches, to feed more than bread and water, but the Word, the truth, to share with them that which changes lives, Jesus Christ!  Can you see it?  Can you see this Spirit-filled shelter constructed by many local churches, setting aside denominations, seeking to serve our Lord?  Maybe I’m dreaming again, but a friend has shared of such a shelter in Gainesville, and I wonder why not here?  What’s missing in St. Augustine?  A fire of G-d ministries!

http://fireofgodministries.org/index.html

Matthew 25:40

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

May G-d bless you and keep you!

Structuring Social Ventures:  Choice of Legal Structure

By:  B. Ray Dinning, JD, LLM (taxation)

November 30, 2009

Part II

Foundations of Social Venture Legal Structures for Churches and other Non-Profits

The Foundations of Legal Structures for Social Ventures

In 1992-1994, I was privileged to provide research, drafting and editing skills to my esteemed professor, Mr. Michael I. Sanders, in the creation of his authoritative legal treatise, “Joint Ventures Involving Tax Exempt Organizations (Wiley & Sons).  This early work set the stage for the concept of the modern day social ventures.   Having structured hundreds of social ventures in the United States and, in fact, worldwide, the choice of entity generally depends on the specific facts of the transaction and the needs of the parties involved.  However, generally speaking, the most common legal structures utilized for social ventures, both domestic and international, are the tax-exempt organization, the limited liability company (LLC) and various partnership entities.  When used in a strategic manner designed to meet the needs of the social venture, a legal structure can be created which will allow the social venture to meet both charitable, social needs and also pursue the profit-making activities in a fairly straightforward and simple to use structure.

Tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations are generally designed to provide a structure for its directors and members to pursue a fairly well-defined set of charitable, exempt purposes. However, they are not conducive for the operation of for-profit business activities.  Additionally, tax-exempt organizations are generally not able to raise capital, sell stock or borrow without significant restrictions.  Nonprofit corporations cannot issue stock and therefore have no “owners.” Revenues generated by the nonprofit organizations must remain within it and cannot be paid out to investors or other stakeholders except as reasonable compensation for services rendered.  Its income must be devoted to charitable purposes.  The board of directors of a nonprofit corporation is duty-bound to give its primary attention to pursuit of the social mission rather than the production of net income. Organizations exempt from federal tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (often referred to generically as charities) must abide by even greater restrictions that prohibit payments to insiders and impose taxes on any business activity that is not directly related to the organization’s tax exempt purposes.   As you will see, however, tax-exempt charitable organizations have been conducting “business” for decades using a typical joint venture structure which allows the charitable organizations to pursue both non-profit activities via the tax-exempt organization and also the for-profit social venture via the “parallel” venture entity – typically a limited liability company or limited partnership.

Take for example, the tax-exempt, nonprofit university dedicated to charitable, educational, scientific and other charitable purposes.  Many large universities make millions of dollars per year on corporate sponsorship, advertising, concessions and branding of their sports programs such as college football.  Hospitals conduct a myriad of non-profit and for-profit activities under the large umbrella of a tax-exempt organization.  Low income housing tax credit ventures link profitable developers and construction companies to non-profit housing development agencies to provide low cost housing to those in need.  These non-profit and for-profit purposes have co-existed since the 1970s under the careful structuring of a few legal professionals who possess the requisite skills to provide tax, corporate, partnership and non-profit legal advice.  With the recent advent of “social ventures” and the skyrocketing use of these social entrepreneurship projects worldwide, it is actually the lawyers, accountants and governmental agencies who are trying to play catch-up which is much of the cause of the confusion.

For-profit business corporations, on the contrary, have shareholders (owners) and a board of directors (carrying out the general business of the organization) and perhaps officers and managers (who do the day to day operating of the business).  The directors of the corporation have certain fiduciary duties to the business and the shareholders which require them to always act in the best interests of the shareholders and the corporation.  Unless a link exists which can tie their social venture activities directly to some business purpose, the managers and directors of for-profit companies may be sued for breach of their fiduciary duties and misuse of corporate assets. Only in cases where the owners of the business are in agreement with the idea of operating in a socially responsible manner, or dedicating a percentage of profits to charitable causes, can such activity take place.  Even then, this fragile balance of business and social purposes can be destroyed by a drop in corporate earnings or an unforeseen consequence of the social venture or the lack of reaching  the projected profits from a social venture or the complaint of one or more shareholders.

So, what is the answer to the question of proper legal structure?  That begins Part III of the Series.

B. Ray Dinning is a United States attorney specializing in nonprofit joint ventures and public private partnershps  Ray Dinning assisted Professor Michael Sanders with the research and drafting of the authoritative legal text in this area called “Partnerships and Joint Ventures Involving Tax Exempt Organizations by John Wiley & Sons in 1994 with later editions.  Mr. Dinning can be reached at (757) 232-2619.

Structuring Social Ventures:  Choice of Legal Structure

By:  B. Ray Dinning, JD, LLM (taxation)

November 29, 2009

Part I – Introduction

This is Part One of a Four Part Series on Choice of Legal Structure for Social Ventures

Social Ventures and social entrepreneurship are alive and well in the for-profit and non-profit communities, universities, foundations and with social investors worldwide.  With every major MBA Program educating future business leaders about the social benefits of ventures that make money and help others and with amazing examples of social entrepreneurship by Professor Yunus and the Grameen Bank, Social Ventures are the business wave of the future.  With roughly 2/3rds of the world’s population living with an income of $2 a day, the applicability of technology and products to this burgeoning world market is a new phenomenon.  Bill Gates, Richard Branson and others are finding new ways to market products and services to this market.  Innovation is a key component to this process as products must be re-engineered to be affordable to the world market.  For example, the wind up computer, cell phones and other technology are currently being marketed and sold to this demographic group.  In Africa, this challenge is even greater and the need more prolific.  One thing is certain:  social entrepreneurship is the wave of the future in world markets.

A social venture is an undertaking by a firm or organization established by a social entrepreneur that seeks to provide systemic solutions to achieve a sustainable, social objective. The distinguishing characteristic of the social venture versus the commercial venture is the primacy of their objective to solve social problems and provide social benefits to those in need. The social venture may generate profits, but that is not its focus. Rather profits are the mechanism to achieve sustainability in providing a social benefit. The problems addressed by social ventures cover the range of social issues, including poverty, inequality, education, the environment, and economic development.

The challenge in this fast-paced developing area is that guidance in how these beneficial ventures should be structured is amorphous and undefined. Some have estimated that – depending on how one defines social enterprise – this activity could account for as much as 4 trillion dollars in the global economy. Social Enterprise Alliance estimates in a recent poll, 71% of respondents reported that making a determination as to the proper and best legal structure for their social ventures was the greatest challenge they faced. The pool of respondents included not just people who were starting new ventures, but also investors seeking a social return on investment (SROI) in addition to financial returns.

Because so many legal disciplines are necessary to properly structure a venture which many include non-profit, for-profit and even community partners and where business principles must be modified, it is hard to find concrete guidance in how to set up and structure social ventures.  The legal areas implicated in a structuring social ventures include:  tax, non-profit, corporate, partnership, international, mergers & acquisitions, business entity formation and perhaps more.

Social ventures can be structured in several legal formations including, but not limited to: business for-profit corporations, nonprofit corporations, tax-exempt organizations, for-profit subsidiaries of nonprofit entities, limited liability companies, charities created by business corporations, joint ventures, and less formal structures created through financing, shareholder and licensing agreements.  New forms of business structures including the use of the L3C entity and the so-called “B Corporation” are also adding to the mix of potential business structures available to social entrepreneurs.

Perhaps because of our capitalistic roots and the emphasis in the United States on profit and wealth generation or simply because of the relative infancy of social enterprises and social ventures, our legal system in the United States does not provide a legal form that is designed to accommodate the particular needs of social ventures.  Obviously, public companies have, as their primary objective, the bests interests of the shareholders of the company which, to date, has allowed them to pursue “green” or eco-friendly ventures as an aside to their primary objective of producing a good or service which generates profits for the shareholders.  Non-profit organizations have social good and charitable purposes as their primary objective but many complex rules and onerous penalties exist for the organization and its directors should their profit making objectives be structured improperly, become too large or simply conflict with their tax-exempt social purposes.  Additionally, non-profits face potential donor confusion when they start to introduce the concept of “business” and “profit” to their donor base.  Thus, many pitfalls, regulatory landmines and business issues such as access to capital and modifying the traditional rules of business come into play when attempting to structure a social venture.

In structuring a social venture, the ideal legal structure for social enterprise would allow management to pursue the dual goals of profit and social benefit within a single venture. It would allow the venture to raise private capital and compensate investors for the use of their capital on competitive terms but also management to make business decisions that further the social mission of the venture, even at the risk of reducing profits.  This ideal legal structure would also allow donors to support the social purposes of the venture with tax-deductible contributions, provided the money they give is a gift and they do not receive anything in return. Such an enterprise could freely enter into joint ventures and other business relationships with charities or for-profit companies without jeopardizing the tax or corporate status of the participating entities or exposing management to complex regulation or potential liability. Under the right circumstances, the social enterprise itself could become exempt from paying tax on its net revenues.

Next, we will discuss Foundations of the social venture movement.

B. Ray Dinning, JD, LLM (taxation) is a United States based attorney specializing in nonprofit joint ventures, social ventures, domestic and international taxation and public private partnerships.   Mr. Dinning assisted Professor Michael Sanders with the research and drafting of the authoritative legal text in this area called “Partnerships and Joint Ventures Involving Tax Exempt Organizations by John Wiley & Sons in 1994 with later editions.  Mr. Dinning holds an Advanced Law Degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Taxation – an LL.M in Taxation.  Mr. Dinning has traveled around the world structuring social ventures from the grassroots to the Heads of State.  Mr. Dinning can be reached at (757) 232-2619.

Minarets are no more a symbol of extremist Islam, than church bells are a symbol of extremist Christianity. We see what we choose to see. Our fears drive us to seclusion. You cannot call yourself a Christian and then hide in church. You cannot call yourself a Muslim and then hide inside a mosque. You cannot call yourself a Jew and then hide in a synagogue. We cannot be close to God/Allah and then build walls that separate us from all others. We cannot be close to God/Allah and then call ourselves the chosen. God is at your doorstep, would you turn him away?

Sign outside a church on the way to Cherokee Marsh today:

GOD BLESS EVERYONE

NO EXCEPTIONS

WE REALLY BELIEVE THIS

Daniel asked:  As opposed to “God Bless Everyone — Just Kidding”?

Sign outside a different church, on the way back from Cherokee Marsh:

HE IS COMING ON A WHITE HORSE

TO TAKE CARE OF IT

When I hear that a hero-type is coming on a white horse to take care of it, the first image in my head is the Lone Ranger.  Hi-O!  Silver!  Away!

]]> http://flandin505.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/vaquero-fest-saturday/ Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:32:43 +0000 Deli Lanoux http://flandin505.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/vaquero-fest-saturday/

On November 7th, Steven and I got up super early to head out to Hebbronville for our first Vaquero Fest experience and arrived before nine to await the parade. 

Afterwards, we walked over to explore what I thought had been a hotel in another lifetime.  What a gem!  I wondered what it would say if it could speak.  Steven later asked Bill Hellen about the building and learned that a man from Fort Worth owns it now.  Historical landmarks like this one come with lots of regulations attached to preserve their integrity; so maybe this is causing all kinds of delays in its beautification.

We walked down the main street for a few blocks before heading back to the car, so we could drive around town.  A really quaint barbecue place by the railroad tracks caught my eye.   The small, narrow, triangular building looks like a long-ago whistle stop.  Unfortunately, we were in traffic on the wrong side, so I missed the photo op.  I’ll save it for next time around, I guess, though I did get another goodie instead.

At the plaza, we listened to some mighty fine singers, young folks trying to break into the music industry.  The young woman, Mallorie, handed out autographed CDs afterwards.  She told me she’ll be cutting an album soon, so I wished her great success.  

Making the rounds, we finally found Bill and his lovely Elva and then visited briefly with Joe and Cordy on our way to Our Lady of Guadalupe diagonally across from the plaza.  We didn’t want to miss Hernan’s cuentos viejos presentation in the church basement.

Up until then, we’d been thinking only about the tour of the Scottus College breezeway that we’d missed in June.  We’d spoken with R. J. at the parade, and he’d promised us a tour if we arrived early for Hernan’s lecture.  We’d thought the church would be locked; but, much to our surprise, two ladies, Julie and Rosa Elia, were monitoring the front doors.  We asked if we could enter and were graciously told that Azalia, one of the ladies whom we’ve met through the TX Tropical Trail Region (TTTR) meetings, was giving tours of the church and the chapel.  Boy, oh, boy, were we excited to have our very own VIP tours!

After the tours and the presentation, we agreed we’d accomplished our goals for the day, so we decided to swing back by the plaza before heading for home.  First, we spent time observing Isaac and Gabriel at their kettle korn booth.  Steven and I love making popcorn from scratch, but this looked dangerously intriguing.  Isaac has to wear gloves, long sleeves, and a face mask!  Isaac told us he buys huge bags of ACT II, since it pops best; and he’s not at all concerned about stray poppers lost during the process.  He and his brother travel to numerous fairs from Hebbronville to Floresville to Alice and back, and he really enjoys what he does.  Next, we visited with Louie and his assistant, Mark.  Louie had samples of his pan de campo, so we couldn’t resist buying some of that, too.  It’s an immense glorified flour tortilla with an appealing name, cowboy bread, absolutely perfect for Vaquero Fest and just fine without butter, too.

Walking around the plaza one last time, we saw kids of all ages enjoying themselves as they listened to the music, ate, strolled around like us, bought items from the vendors, or just plain window shopped.  We felt glad to have joined in the day’s festivities.

We’d bought delicious tacos from the Knights of Columbus, visited the fine folks we’ve befriended through TTTR, and enjoyed our time at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church (OLG).  

Once again, we were taken with the friendliness of the townspeople with whom we interacted.  The parishioners we met at OLG were as nice as Lorenzo and his workers were the first time around.  We felt so welcomed into their community that I’m pretty sure we’ll go back to visit, especially since Azalia told us that Father Frank intends to have murals and frescoes painted in the church.  Won’t that be an awesome sight!

Adams County
Inhabited as of 5-07

Bucyrus, ND is along Highway 12 in Southwestern North Dakota, east of Bowman. It was founded in 1907 as Wolf Butte, and was also known as Dolan for a time.

The elevation at Bucyrus is considerably higher than most of North Dakota at 2775 feet. Peak population was 124 in 1930. There are roughly a couple dozen North Dakotans living in Bucyrus today.

If you’re driving Highway 12 in southwestern North Dakota, be prepared for some very bad stretches of road in between Gascoyne and Haynes.

CLICK PICS TO ENLARGE

While traveling through the Mountains of Alicante region i came across many interesting sights.Two areas captured my interest,the ancient Moorish Castle in the town of Castalla and the town of Alcoy world famous for its moors and Christians festival held every year.

The Town of Alcoy is the site of a yearly re-enactment  next planned in April 2010 in full historical costume that remains one of Spains most well known and Colourful Fiestas.

It is based on  the Battle of Alcoy in the 13th Century and is in place to honour St George the Patron Saint of the town who is said to have saved the town from the Moorish forces of Alazraq in 1275.

As the tale is told James I of Aragon led a campaign of reconquest through the region after centuries of moorish occupation and influence. In retaliation the Moors  invaded once more to recover their lost ground.However as the Battle was starting St George is said to have appeared in the sky over the famous gorge in the town to save the day.

It is a colourful and entertaining day in which mock battles are fought all over the town and where a fog of gunpowder and fireworks descend amidst the playing of traditional period music and merriment and much feasting.

It is a 3 day 24hr long festival in which 28 armies do battle and the whole town is festooned in the red cross flags of St George.                                  St George saving Alcoy from the Moors.

Being from the United Kingdom I was fascinated by the  interpretation of  the Patron St adopted both here and in  England and its interpretation in both countries.

In the U.K  St George is frequently shown as the Slayer of the Dragon but in this area of Spain he is shown as a saviour from the Moors.

The Local Church of St George at Portal de san Marcos shows fascinating Murals of the battle painted by Fernando Cabrera Canto  painted in 1921 and a Relic said to be St Georges finger that is paraded around the town during the festival.

Heres link to the Alcoi festival tourist site:http://www.alcoiturisme.com/

The Battle of Alcoy in St Georges Church

The Relic of St Georges Finger

Further South heading back to Alicante one sees the outstanding pinacle on which is Perched the Castle of castalla.

The Castalla Castle

Raised in the 11th Century by the Moors it was incorporated into the kingdom of Aragon in 1244.

In 1362 the Castle was given to Ramon de Vilanova to defend against Castilian attacks and ultimately became part of the Hapsburg Monarchy’s defence strategy against Barbary pirate attacks on Alicantes coast line.

Throughout the 18th century Spanish War of succession it became a place for storage and was in ruins by 1813.

Castalla like Pamplona also has its own running of the Bull festival in August and like Alcoy above has its own Moors and Christians festival.

The town found itself embroiled in the Spanish Civil war and Between 1933 and 1935 the hill and fort was sacked by the locals looking for treasure.In recent times it has been the subject of restoration with a view towards tourism.

Wandering through the old medieval town on an early morning sunlit stroll is a nice way to start the day and each corner throughout the maze of passage ways can reveal odd surprises and treats for the senses with sunbleached bright coloured old buildings and elevated views of the area ,a coffee and a taste of the local olives is also highly recommended.Below are some views around Castalla.

All these images were shot on a Nikon P6000 compact camera which I like to set up with easy access to manual overide settings for compensation,flash output and white balance using the my menu settings for speed.

Its a great light weight durable tool for keeping in your pocket when traveling light.

All the best.

Pictures copyright:Kerry Davies. WWW.WABISABIPIX.COM

Angel Wings

Each time I drive to Truchas ,New Mexico I always stop at the cemetery . This particular grave, Angel Wings, as I call it, is always adorned differently each time I visit.  Last visit at Christmas, snow covered the ground and there on the cross hung a Santa’s Cap.  Each adornment tells a story. In the back ground is Truchas (Spanish for “trout”) Peak, which is located in the Pecos Wilderness Area in the Sangre de Cristo mountain.

The movie “The Milagro Beanfield War” was filmed by Robert Redford  in Truchas, New Mexico in 1988.

The Lawrence Church collection includes ephemera from both Catholic and Protestant churches.  There is a collection of church photographs as well.  There is also a separate Grace Episcopal Church collection.

The first (1846) church organized and built in the town of Lawrence was Grace Episcopal.  At one time there were two other Episcopal Churches; St. John’s on Broadway and St. Augustine’s in South Lawrence.  St. John’s has been torn down and St. Augustine’s is now a Kenyan Anglican Church.  The First Unitarian Society was organized August 18, 1847.  From 1850 the church was located at the corner of Jackson and Haverhill streets and has since been torn down.  The Church of the Good Shepherd (Universalist) was founded November 15, 1847.  The church building still stands at 199 Haverhill Street.  It is the home a primitive Methodist Church.

Lawrence was home to a number of Congregationalist communities including the Lawrence Street (now the Iglesia de Dios), Central (167 Haverhill Street), Eliot, South (198 Broadway) and Riverside (209 Water Street).  Riverside is still an active Congregational church.  There were a number of Baptist and Free Baptist churches such as First, Calvary, Second, and the First Free Will Baptist Church.  A composite of these churches remains in the First-Calvary Baptist Church now located in North Andover.  None of the five active Methodist Episcopal churches still exists although all of the buildings are in existence.  There names were Garden St., First (on Haverhill St.), Parker St., St. Mark’s (Essex and Margin), and St. Paul’s.  There is still a United Methodist Church on Haverhill Street.  The United Presbyterian Church that was located at 96 East Haverhill St. was originally the German Presbyterian Church. 

Irish Catholics would first worship at the Immaculate Conception Church in 1846.  This would become just one church of St. Mary’s parish on the north side of the Merrimack River in Lawrence.  Churches and schools that would be born and blossom over the next several decades, were serviced by the Augustinian bothers, Xaverian Brothers, and the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.  Other churches in the parish were St. Augustine’s, St. Anne’s (French), St. Peter and St. Paul’s (Portuguese), St. John the Baptist, St. Lawrence O’Toole’s, Holy Rosary (Italian), St. Francis of Assisi (Lithuanian), the Church of the Assumption of Mary (German), Holy Trinity (Polish), St. Anthony’s Maronite (Syrian), and St. Joseph’s Melkite (Syrian).  The Lithuanian National Catholic Church took over the building once owned by the Garden St. Methodist Episcopal Church.

On the south side of the river St. Patrick’s and Sacred Heart were conventional catholic churches.  The Immaculate Conception Polish Catholic Church was located in South Lawrence.

We originally visited Bentley in May of 2007. See the pictures from our previous visit.

In August of 2009, Ghosts of North Dakota visitor Kelso19 visited Bentley and discovered the church steeple has collapsed.

Hettinger County
Inhabited as of 5/07

Bentley, ND was founded in 1906, fifteen miles south of its present location. In 1915 the town was rebuilt on the present location.

At one time it may have been home to as many as 200 North Dakotans, but today its home to maybe twenty.

CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

Burleigh County
Vacant as of 5/04

Arena was founded with a rural post office January 23rd, 1906. It is said to have had a peak population of 150 around 1920, but had withered to 35 residents by 1930.

 It is now abandoned.

Although there aren’t any residents in the immediate vicinity of the town, there is a yellow house on the townsite which had blankets hanging in the windows, suggesting it was used for something relatively recently.

The road leading south out of Arena is a short, scenic drive, bordered tightly on both shoulders by a couple of small lakes. 

CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

NIKON D300, Nikon 12-24, HDR in Photomatix

One word for Prague…Wow!!  In all my travels to Europe….I had never visited Prague until a few weeks ago!  I was amazed at how beautiful and old it is!  Not sure if this is correct (what I have heard), but during WWII only 1 building was destroyed in Prague…so it has kept its old world charm unchanged through the years!  In Prague you will not find skyscrapers, just spectacular buildings, old style roads, truly beautiful churches, many shops and restaurants!

I would say my favorite cities in Europe are  1) Paris 2) London 3) Rome 4) Prague 5) Vienna  …Prague jumps up to number four only after one visit!  So many sights to see – I can’t wait to go back one day!  I’ll get into Prague more in future posts….but here is an HDR from St. Vitus Cathedral.   It was my first stop during my visit and I was lucky to get this photo!  No tripods are allowed and I kinda knew this was the option ahead of me when I entered…so I prepped my camera, tripod and cable release…snapped off 5 exposures and took the shots before the guard was one my in a matter of seconds!  After this shot..I had to put the tripod away and take hand held shots.  Not bad..but at least this shot came out perfectly!

Here is some info from the web:  For more than 600 years, the roofs of Prague Castle have been overlooked by the towers of St Vitus Cathedral. The cathedral, whose original name is St Vitus, St Wenceslas and St Adalbert Cathedral, is the biggest and the most important church in the Czech Republic. It’s the seat of the Archbishop of Prague and the place where saints, kings, princes and pmperors of Bohemia are buried. The coronations of the kings of Bohemia were held there until 1836. It’s one of the best examples of Gothic architecture.

When you walk from the II courtyard to the III courtyard the first thing you notice is the impressive western part of St Vitus Cathedral. There is also the official main entrance to the cathedral. This part of the cathedral is the newest, it was built at the turn of the 19th and the 20th century (see St Vitus Cathedral History). The western part of the cathedral is characterized by two tall towers and the Rose Window. The author of this window, Frantisek Kysela, let himself inspire by old gothic windows in famous cathedrals in Paris. Notice four figures at the bottom of the window, two at at each side. They represent important people in the newest reconstruction of the cathedral.

Now Prague is surely one of the top Places 2 Explore!!

How true!

“Genocide = dead human beings”

“Holocaust = dead human beings”

“Starvation = dead human beings”

“Abortion = dead human beings”

“They seem similar to me..”

“but I would also say that in general the welfare and livelihood of those of us in the here and now takes precedence over those who have not yet entered the world.”

The above are quotes from the commenter_____Not this writer…

Oh! War = Dead Human Beings! Reality vs. Scripture? Reality vs. imagination…Judgements and the religious-right winged Leaders vs. St. Matthew 7: 2… (Our Christ Jesus, as he was ending His “Sermon on the Mount”).

“Judge not, that ye be not judged.” “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”

“Some of those guidelines currently are covered by the First Amendment, but those types of freedoms are vanishing around the world.”

Ans: The First Amendment is a created freedom. The rest of the world …Not there, but maybe, don’t you think would be Nice, No Great, No Heaven? Reality and not of this world… “All Men are Created Equal”…the principal author of the Declaration of Independence…owned slaves…Thomas Jefferson…Please help me with the truth?

• This Reverend would love to see a perfect world with our First Amendment. I would love to see newborn children enter into this world; parents filled with love for their new child, a ready bedroom with all the baby needs from crib to formula and on and on and…
• This Reverend believes in LIFE! Where life begins (human or not) is currently an error or truth thru semantics. Example: My God is bigger than your god…ad infinitum? And oops; this Reverend is an old white man. No! Not a notion of racism and… “Jesus loves the little children,
  all the children of the world.
  Red and yellow, black and white,
  All are precious in His sight,
  Jesus loves the little children of the world.” Words: C. Her­bert Wool­ston (1856-1927); Music: George F. Root (1820-1895) And! So do I…

And! In Milwaukee, there once was a month of small horrors…little Children having babies (not one but nine children).. The youngest was a beautiful, just turned 11 year old, riding on a gurney clutching a stuffed teddy-bear, victim of an orphanage and a rape by some big man though-”not my daddy and I hurt” and….this precious child was African American…(Should have aborted during the first trimester—you be the Judge)?

This Reverend is not a racist…This God-loving minister  brings scripture to the streets and in my writing. My heart during that “month of Horror,” had I not believed with all my being in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ would have been torn from my body and my soul. Instead! My heart was just broken and the reality…But enough about me.

• Because of the “no female” concept in China; by the end of 2010, this government will realize that they are about 120 million girls short and about 120 million boys with no girls…oops!

Should we believe in abortion? Should we believe in reality…“and love sister is just a kiss away”—Rolling Stones.

Gay Marriage is another wonderful example of our First Amendment…Let us pray that we will still enjoy that freedom 10 years from today.

May Respect and Understanding and Peace and Love (Rupl) be with all of us…forever?And! I pray that our Right-Winged Clergy grow Left-wings so that our Dove of Peace may fly once more…Amen.

Congratulations to Charlotte Bain, Jessica Bartlett, Jennifer Clark, Jonathan East, Martha Eddy, Alex Garner, Alexandra Hill, Charlie Kenzie, Rowan McConkey, Jonathan Moore, Oliver Moses, Rebecca Phillips, Bruno Russell and Rosie White who were admitted as King’s and Queen’s Scholars at King’s School Ely yesterday, on the basis of their outstanding GCSE results. As Scholars they join the Cathedral Foundation, and it was my privilege to muse aloud with the school and its guests as to what sort of foundation we are building our own lives on.

Photo credit: King’s School website

Matthew 7:24-27 The Wise and Foolish Builders

²⁴ “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” ²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

What was that Bible reading all about? The one about the wise man who built his house on the rock, and the foolish man who built his house on the sand, that we heard earlier? Well, I don’t know if you’ve been to the Holy Land, but if you do, take the time to get off the beaten track and visit one of the desert wadis. They are the dry sandy riverbeds that criss cross the parched landscape. Plenty of level, empty building ground in those riverbeds. Far easier to use than the rocky highlands around them. But then, unpredictably, without warning, the rains pour down, and everything in them is washed away, full stop. So … what sort of ground are you building on?

Jesus of course is not talking about actual bricks-and-mortar buildings, but about building ourselves as persons. He reminds us that we found our lives, our actions and our opinions on all sorts of foundations. Some of them are distinctly dodgy, about as secure as a sandbank. The latest story about Jesus visiting Glastonbury probably comes into that category; I see that its proponent lectures at the College of Psychic Studies. In fact we all accumulate a sandbank of superstitions, myths and habits that seriously need some structural engineering. And so most people do also give their lives some serious thought – gathering wisdom from all sorts of sources – philosophy, literature, religion, cultural traditions, friends, and even teachers too. That then leaves us with the question, which of these speak with the voice of authority; which do we trust? And Jesus boldly says, trust my words, trust me.

I suspect you can see where this is leading. Your aims, says your school website, are lofty. But on what sort of foundations, what sort of ground, are they built? And where do the words and person of Jesus Christ fit in to that? I can’t and mustn’t make that choice for you – but it is arguably the job of a Bishop to suggest first that foundations matter, second that Christ is a very credible foundation to build your life on; and third that it is a good idea for each of us to actually do something about it.

That’s all rather dry, so let me be anecdotal for a bit about how foundations matter – and get back to floods. In the 1990’s I was Rector of the Cumbrian town of Cockermouth. You’ll have seen pictures of it on the news over recent weeks. It’s devastating. They’re only just getting over another indundation that happened four years’ ago; and memories are still keen of another bad one before that. The oldest buildings, the castle and the parish church, are – significantly – on higher ground; but over the years as the town’s market and population grew, more space was needed, and the risky banks of the Derwent and Cocker were colonised. It matters where you build.

I saw the same in Carlisle in 2005. By then I was living there as Archdeacon and Canon of the Cathedral. Again, the historic centre survived unscathed – but as an island; and not only a whole sector of the city’s housing found itself flooded, but also most of the emergency services and civic amenities, built on the conveniently flat and empty flood-plain.

Look up at the amazing structure of this Cathedral. It’s all right. It’s only an optical illusion if you think it’s falling in on you. Thank goodness its builders put in some foundations … But you’ll remember perhaps the story of William Walker, the deep-sea diver, who in 1906 to 11, literally dived into the groundwater under the vastness of Winchester Cathedral, to a depth of six metres, and shored it up, using more than 25,000 bags of concrete, 115,000 concrete blocks, and 900,000 bricks. It’s builders had given it foundations, but not ones deep enough to cope with long-term effects of new developments and climate change, and it really might have fallen down. Foundations matter, good ones, for the long run.

So what sort should we put in? And where does Christ come into that?

Here at King’s School you do not share in an institution that has been founded on some fleeting Glastonbury-like fancy, or even a plausible but untested philosophy or educational ideology of the moment. Dig down here and you find a deep substructure, strata upon strata of prayerful commitment and personal sacrifice, going right down to the start Etheldreda made in 673, and drawing on perhaps the greatest basis for good living that the world has ever known, and the one indeed that more people follow on this planet than any other. The founders and re-founders of the school will surely have been strongly motivated by the thought that their work would carry on providing a sound basis for human growing and living far beyond their own time.

Whenever I come into this cathedral church I, for one, sense something of the depth and solidity of those foundations, feel that here is something bigger than me, a sign and a presence of a reality beyond my own very limited perspective. I see the behaviour of our many visitors change as they move deeper into the building and encounter it. And I suspect that you may have felt this too. This will be a place you want to come back to.

So don’t underplay the value and seriousness of the foundations that are being given you just by being here. After all, using the word in a different sense, those of you who are and are being admitted as King’s and Queen’s Scholars are actually part of the Foundation yourselves! Looking carefully at the architecture and its history will not go amiss, but I have in mind of course more the living stones and living faith past and present that has made this place what it is. There is much to inform, much to inspire. Who are those people in the windows, on the memorials that catch our attention when the preacher loses it? Every one of them has a story to tell. What is the wisdom that is locked up in those old books and acted out in the services? Why has the Bible been the basis of more good lives than any other book ever.

Now we live in a world where many faiths and cultures vie for attention, and you yourselves come from a fairly wide variety of them. So although it is my job to commend Christ to you, it is yours to make up your own mind. And that of course is exactly how Christ would have it be. But what if you do indeed come to consider yourself in some sense a Christian, a follower of Christ?

The third of my themes then comes into play: what are you, what am I, going to do about it? How is your own personal identity and life going to be built into them? Joined up and joined in? We don’t usually bother much about this aspect of buildings; by and large the weight of the structure creates enough force to make it secure. That’s not always true, though. Examine the construction of the great cable-hung suspension bridges, and you see the cables continuing down into massive chambers, where they are held tight by equally massive bolts. And, to go back to those Cumbrian floods, we have seen to our cost how the apparently solid stone construction is actually highly vulnerable when exposed to pressure. What is holding you firm, keeping you you, writing you in to the great story of our faith in a way that no one can write out? Sometimes stories about wearing faith symbols get into the press – but faith is about far more than what we wear; it is about who we are.

You could see this as something rather private: our inner moral sense, our prayerfulness, our study of the scriptures; but in fact is also something rather public: how we relate to others and build community, how we express our faith and values together; what we teach and what we learn. And so it makes a difference, to us and to society at large, when we are prepared to go public, have the courage of our convictions, and stand up and stand out for what we believe in.

We have a ceremony, another sort of joining the Foundation, at which we give people the opportunity to do this. We call it Confirmation, and it means just that: going firm and being made firm in our faith. It can seem a rather minority interest, even a bit embarassing. But you are an international enough group to know that that is a very insular view. Across Europe and certainly across the world young people regularly give quality time to sorting out their personal faith and – for many – getting confirmed. Adults too are increasingly deciding it’s time they joined in. And I would like to suggest that we over here are the poorer for having lost it, and that led by you we can recover that loss.

“King’s,” says your website again, “is a robust school.” So here’s a robust challenge. Lead the way. Dig deeper. Get your foundations sorted out. And if you find that those foundations are, for you, the ones of the Christian faith, have the courage of your convictions, get confirmed, and say so.

Iglesia San Jose de Cabezon by Evangeline Chavez

Iglesia San Jose de Cabezon, originally built in 1894, is now on private land.  It is open to the public during the year for a mass in honor of San Jose. In the background you can see Cabezone Peak.  Cabezone Peak is derived from the Spanish noun “cabeza,” meaning “head,” and “Cabezon” translates as “big head.

]]> http://pbaptist.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/lutheran-denomination-splitting-after-gay-pastor-vote/ Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:59:10 +0000 Particular Kev http://pbaptist.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/lutheran-denomination-splitting-after-gay-pastor-vote/ http://fidest.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/european-churches-responding-to-migration-2010/ Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:29:21 +0000 fidest http://fidest.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/european-churches-responding-to-migration-2010/

A meeting of some 70 representatives of churches from across Europe and participants from  other world regions today in Budapest launches the focus year of “European Churches responding to Migration” – a joint initiative of the Conference of European Churches and the  Churches Commission for Migrants in Europe. Tonight s official launch is hosted by the Reformed Church in Hungary and “marks the  beginning of activities by which churches in Europe seek to make visible the churches’ commitment to strangers, responding to the message of the Bible, which insists on the dignity of every human being throughout the year 2010”, the General Secretary of the Conference of  European Churches, the Ven. Colin Williams, stated. “Churches shall be encouraged to  strengthen and enhance their work with and for migrants, refugees and ethnic minority people.”  At the same time, the activities aim at improving the situation of migrants in Europe very  concretely – through joint advocacy for migrants’ and refugees’ right to a long-term residence  status after five years of legal stay, irrespective of the grounds of stay.  The launch is part of a three-day-conference, in which participants exchange how their churches are addressing migration – as an issue related to the unity of the church, the socio-diaconal  calling of the church and the political involvement of the church. Speakers from across Europe will give testimonies of their work. Participants from the World Council of Churches Global Ecumenical Network on Migration will offer their observation on the work in Europe from an external perspective.  Tonight s launch will feature the presentation of a calendar for the year 2010. The calendar highlights specific area of churches work on migration and encourages churches to further  develop and give more visibility to these activities. Suggestions range from organising bible studies between congregations with different ethnic background and joint worship of congregations worshipping in different languages to the setting up psychological support for  refugees and advocacy for irregular migrants. “Migration has become a reality in almost all European countries, be they more immigration,  emigration or transit migration countries,” CCME General Secretary Doris Peschke stated. “It is important to recognise this reality and overcome fears in our societies. Migration is a blessing and not a curse,” she added, as churches have a rich biblical basis to understand migration in a more positive way