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Ten Years of PeaceBang!!

Hello, pigeons!!

I began blogging as PeaceBang on December 30, 2004. Beauty Tips For Ministers was my second blog, and came along a couple of years later. I cannot believe I — and WE — have been using social media for a decade!

Please join me in celebrating TEN YEARS OF PEACEBANG AND SOCIAL MEDIA MINISTRY on December 30 and 31st. I would like to go live on Google Hangouts from 2-4 pm EST on Tuesday and then again the next day in the late morning. I am not leaving myself a lot of time to plan this but it could work if I get folks on board early! I will do readings, answer questions, take callers and read your letters.

Do you have a favorite PeaceBang story, quote, memory or comment? Did PeaceBang touch your life in some way in the past decade? Let’s hear about it!! Your comments are most welcome here and to my personal e-mail at (my real first name – dot – my real last name @ gmail.com).

WAY BACK WHEN – -before we even had the word “selfie!”
Vicki Headshot

And today, older but wiser (I hope):

2014-08-17 19.10.18

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Roll Call

Dear readers,
I just this morning received a lovely fan letter from Pigeon Lynette, a school chaplain from Australia.

Someone joked that this blog has an “international following” the other day, and I said, “It’s no joke!” As far as I know, there are BTFM readers in the following countries:

The United States
Britain
Canada
Sweden
Germany
France
Switzerland
Italy
Central America (I forget which country)
South America (I forget which country)

Let’s take roll call! Where are you reading from?

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PB Laying Down Some Serious Covenantal Theology May 14th!

Massachusetts Convention of Congregational Ministers

Spring Meeting

Who Drives Our Covenant?
God, Neighbor, Other?

Our speakers will be

The Rev. Ian Holland
Senior Minister of The First Church in Swampscott, Congregational
and
The Rev. Dr. Victoria Weinstein
Senior Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lynn
in Swampscott

The Rev. Jim Chase Will Preach
Federated Church of Charlton

Wednesday, May 14th 2014
10 am to 1 pm
At the First Church and Parish in Dedham
670 High Street, Dedham, MA 02026
http://dedhamuu.org/mccm
Cost $25 per person
includes breakfast and lunch and snacks.

Reservations to Rev. Rali Weaver
raliweaver@dedhamuu.org or 617.459.5979

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Camera Angles

So I knew I would be on camera today and I set up my camera angles and mis-en-scene last night before bed.

When the time came for the show to air, we had technical difficulties and couldn’t get me to come through visually although my voice was audible. I quickly unplugged my external camera and went to my computer camera, therefore having no chance to adjust angles or background. I was live and answering questions so there was no opportunity to surreptitiously fuss.

As it turns out, the camera angle on my computer is a much wider view than I had planned on, which is why everyone watching the show live or later on YouTube will be able to see the mess of papers and files on the floor of my study.

#imagefail

Learn from my mistakes, darlings! I’m HERE FOR YOU!

Following me on the show was the Rev. Lisa Bovee Kemp, a devoted pigeon here at BTFM. She told a hilarious story about going last minute to an early morning public witness event, throwing on some clothes and her collar and thinking, “This is fine: I just need to show up, I won’t be on camera or anything.” As it happens (as such things do), she wound up with a microphone and a megaphone in hand and on the evening news. Studying her image later she had much cause to gnash her teeth and wail, “AUGH! This isn’t the public image I wanted to put out there! And my pants don’t fit!”

I love that she shared this story as an Object Lesson in the ministry of BTFM. The moral of the story is, “Never assume you won’t make the paper or the evening news!”

MWAH! Be beautiful. xoxo

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PB Live on the VUU Today at 11AM

Hullo!

I’ll be talking about church and clergy image and mission at 11 AM today as a guest of the VUU, a Unitarian Universalist online talk show hosted by the Church of the Larger Fellowship.

Join us on Google+ CLFUU and you’ll get access to the Hangout. Don’t ask me to explain more than that because I don’t know more! If you join the CLFUU Circle you’ll be in like Flynn. Ciao!