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University of Delaware Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance Selected as Successor Organization to IRRC Institute

Weinberg Center to Receive Grant in Excess of $1 Million, Expand Research Initiatives and Sustain Full Public Access to IRRCi Research Library

NEW YORK, NY, July 18, 2018 – The Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute (IRRCi) today announced that it has selected the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance (Weinberg Center) at the University of Delaware as its successor organization. The Weinberg Center will receive a grant from IRRCi in excess of $1 million as part of the successor transition. With these funds, the Weinberg Center will materially expand its environmental, social, corporate governance and capital market research, and also maintain the full IRRCi research library so that more than 75 research reports remain publicly available at no cost. The Weinberg Center also will continue to fund and manage the annual IRRCi Investor Research Award that recognizes outstanding practitioner and academic research.

“The IRRCi has become the preeminent source of objective and relevant research examining the intersection of investments with environmental, social and governance issues. From day one, our plan was to fund innovative research with our seed money, and then transition the remaining assets to another well-respected organization aligned with our mission. We selected the Weinberg Center because it is a highly respected corporate governance thought leader, will sustain IRRC’s important work, and will take our vision to the next level by further expanding unbiased and objective investor research,” said Linda E. Scott, the IRRCi Board Chairwoman. “The IRRCi Board is confident that combining the strengths of the Weinberg Center and the IRRCi will provide investors, corporate boards, executives, regulators, academics, finance experts,  attorneys, and other interested parties with fact-based information and data on how to best improve our capital markets and govern public companies.”

“The Weinberg Center is honored to have been selected as the successor organization to the IRRCi. The Center looks forward to continuing the outstanding work and legacy of the IRRCi,” said Charles M. Elson, Edgar S. Woolard, Jr., Chair in Corporate Governance, Professor of Finance and Director of the Weinberg Center at the University of Delaware.

“The University of Delaware and the Weinberg Center share the IRRCi’s mission to provide the highest quality research that informs and empowers decision-makers in the complex arena of corporate governance,” said Dennis Assanis, President of the University of Delaware. “This announcement is a testimony to the thought leadership and recognized excellence of the Weinberg Center in the field of corporate governance and social responsibility.  We are proud that the Weinberg Center will carry on IRRCi’s important work.”

The selection of the Weinberg Center culminates a planned multi-year succession process undertaken by the IRRCi Board that included consideration of more than 25 organizations. The grant and the transfer of IRRCi’s intellectual property to the Weinberg Center is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2018.  Until then, the IRRCi will continue to publish research, including studies that  benchmark microcap public companies and examine the governance of data privacy.  IRRCi also anticipates announcing the winners of the 2018 Investor Research Award prior to the transition.

IRRCi was formed following the 2005 sale of IRRC to Institutional Shareholder Services to act as a catalyst for thought leaders, and to sponsor research on corporate governance and corporate responsibility issues that are important to the linkage of broad societal issues to investment performance.  Since that time, IRRCi has issued 75 research reports, is in the seventh year of its Investor Research Award, and has become a trusted source of objective and impactful investor research. Its research has been cited by regulators, lawmakers, academics and leading investors.

The IRRC Institute is a nonprofit research organization that funds academic and practitioner research that enables investors, policymakers and other stakeholders to make data-driven decisions. IRRCi research covers a wide range of topics of interest to investors, is objective, unbiased and disseminated widely. More information is available at Follow IRRCi on Twitter at @IRRCResearch.

The John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance was established in 2000 at the University of Delaware and is part of the College of Arts & Sciences. It is one of the longest-standing corporate governance centers in academia, and the first and only corporate governance center in the State of Delaware, the legal home for a majority of the nation’s public corporations. For more information, visit the Center’s website at

IRRCi Media Contact:

Kelly Kenneally | + |

Weinberg Center/University of Delaware Media Contact:

Andrea Boyle Tippett |  +1.302.831.1421|


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Filtra Filtra e ordina

Shirts and T Shirts

10 i prodotti
View all kids clothing Take a look at our range of kid's outdoor shirts and t-shirts, a collection of many styles providing you with comfort during any outdoor activity. Browse through top brands including Karrimor, The North Face and Columbia.

Filtra Filtra e ordina

  • Conferma

Prodotti disponibili

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Merry Christmas... a few days early

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a very Happy New Year. Today's blog post is an early Season's Greeting. I wanted to thank everyone for reading this blog over the years. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Your support has been and is greatly appreciated. Without readers and friends, a blog is pretty much someone talking to themselves by using a keyboard.

Being of Italian heritage, I thought I should at least have a Christmas greeting in Italian. So here it is and I hope it's correct: "Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo"

Someone also shared this link with me a few days ago. I found it very entertaining so I hope you do also. It's amazing what someone can do with Christmas lights. Enjoy.....

Well, that's it for now. Don't forget to check out my Grandson Anthony's blog And as always, thank you for stopping by and thanks for your continued support.

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text:
Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
A jam entry

Crate EggspectationsView game page »

Can you pick out the good eggs from the bad eggs? Multiplayer fun.
Submitted by (@asobitech) with 4 hours, 9 minutes before the deadline

Play game

Visit Crate Eggspectations's game page

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Very challenging game! I included it in my Train Jam 2017 compilation video series, if you'd like to take a look :)

This game was made for TrainJam 2017.

Theme: Unexpected anticipation
Code by Quang DX
Pixels by Sully
Muzak by Elie

Play either on your own or with up to 8 players on the same keyboard.
Keep your eyes on the amulets and avoid the skulls.
Use your YES or NO key to choose if you want the egg that has been chosen or not.
And whatever you do, don't pick up the poo.


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EndNote X8 Ready for Download

Fordham University provides EndNote free of charge to Fordham users. Get your free copy at the Software Download page. You will need your Fordham AccessIT ID and password to download.

EndNote is higher education’s preeminent bibliographic and reference tool. Whether you are writing a one-page response paper or a monograph, EndNote is the perfect tool to handle citations (endnotes or footnotes) and create bibliographies. Mac, PC, and iPad compatible, EndNote handles the formatting for you so you can focus on the writing.

From EndNote.com:
 Organize Your Research with EndNote X8
  • Easily search references, texts, and files, as well as personal notes to quickly locate information
  • Insert references from EndNote into your manuscript to build a bibliography using one of over 6,000 citation styles
  • Use EndNote’s online analytics to find the journals where your research will most likely be accepted
Collaborate with EndNote X8
  • Collaborate on a single reference library with a team of up 100 people, from multiple institutions
  • Store and share as many references, documents, and files as you need
  • Use the activity log to instantly see the history of changes in the shared library

About Author

Fordham IT’s committed staff of talented men and women deliver high quality technology support and resources for teaching, learning, research, and campus life. We also support the technology that enables university staff to do their jobs effectively.

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text:
One Reason Not To Go Online If You Live In The UK

One Big Reason Not To Go Online Until You Have Read This If You Live In The UK

Not To Go Online
*Please note that this was originally an Advertorial For Saferweb. But, it is still worth reading.

If you live in the UK and have a computer, tablet or smartphone connected to the internet, then this may be the most important news you read all year.

Earlier this month we saw thousands of people across the UK get their hands on the the latest Online ID protection from SaferWeb, after yet another increase in identity theft and web-history monitoring.

We have however been advised that because of its unexpected popularity, availability is very limited and is now on a first come first serve basis.

Experts Are Now Calling SaferWeb, “A Game Changer For Internet Users”

As part of the special promotion due to end May 27, 2016, a group of Microsoft Gold Engineers teamed up with innovative new software provider SaferWeb, to provide the latest ID Protection thats just gone viral.

If you have a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone connected to the internet, your activities could be monitored and private information collected when you’re Internet shopping or banking. Even just browsing online is a risk in 2016.

SaferWeb had a primary objective to eliminate this by boosting security and ensure eavesdroppers cannot make sense of your encrypted communications.

Technical Lead John McBride, from SaferWeb explains; Our main objective for creating the app was pretty simple. We wanted to help users protect their Identity & Internet Connection to eliminate the risk of any online, banking or personal information being stolen, monitored or hacked”

The company SaferWeb seemed to deliver on this objective perfectly. Using their technology will give a private tunnel between you and the internet that’s invisible to hackers or any malware, letting you browse the Internet anonymously and securely. Literally anyone can use it and it only takes 5 minutes to set up.

So how can SaferWeb give this away? Apparently this promotional tactic is common among big companies with large marketing budgets. For instance, Burger King launched a similar campaign in 2013, giving away 20,000 free whoppers on Facebook.”

One user we spoke to said, “I came across SaferWeb and decided to give it a go, it’s less than a cup of coffee anyways. I noticed the difference right away and  couldn’t be happier with results. I’ve always been anxious about who watches the sites I use and how safe my information really is and heard countless stories about people having their banking information hacked. This is the perfect solution to eliminate this.

So, how do you Protect Your Online Identity Today?

Here is the simple 3 click step recommended by SmarterWebLife to get yourself instant protection:

Step 1:Click Here to go to SaferWeb, who are market leaders in securing your ID, and internet connection to make it private

Step 2: Click the “Get a Safer Web” button and enter your name, email and choose a password.

Step 3:Select a package:  I recommend the “Pro” Plan. (Only £5) and  Not only will you be fully protected for life, but you’ll also get discounts on thousands of online purchases,by, accessing local currency rates when connecting your computer to the secure connection

Step 4: Your connection and Online ID are now protected for life One Account for all your devices.. It’s that simple.

SaferWeb Internet Security – Official Website

UPDATE: The promotion is due to end on  May 27, 2016  so we urge you to act fast to avoid disappointment.

Using a SaferWeb VPN server also Unblocks Many Sports And movie Channels. You can even book holidays and flights cheaper simply by connecting in a different location to that of your ISP.

By Alexandra Blackshaw | Smarter Web Life

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May 26, 2016


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Join great farming experience in a furry fairy
Dive into adventures full of magic and fun in Royal farming story!
“Cloud Farm” is a fairy story, where every player can join unforgettable adventures, defeat evil wizard and make friends with cute furry local citizens. They are almost like cats, but can help you with your garden or household tasks. Discover a new farming experience, full of fun and happiness in fairy tale story. Help price and princes to save the fairy world and restore the kingdom hidden in clouds. Travel through mysterious islands and shiny worlds full of new acquaintances, unusual items and exciting memories.
 — Create beautiful garden and gather rich harvest of fruits and vegetables;
— Explore the magic of Kingdom's household;
— Meet furry locals help them to restore magnificent world;
— Grow and feed cute animals: chicken, cow, rabbit and others;
— Collect magic items and diamonds from picturesque decorations;
— Fulfill daily orders and quests with your farm products;
— Find new recipes and rare goods on exotic islands;
— Cooperate with your neighbors, play with your Facebook and Google+ friends and make new friends in the game community.
Cloud Farm is free to play game where some items can be also purchased with real money.
— Welcome to our official website:
— If you have any questions, join our community on Facebook:
— Leave your questions in the official e-mail address:

What’s New

Version 1.2.47

In this update:

- Meet nice and sweet creatures from the Winter expanses.
- Help your faithful friends to save the ice cream holiday!
- Learn the secret recipe of King's favorite treats!

New exciting assignments and generous rewards are waiting for you in the Cloud Farm!

Ratings and Reviews

4.4 out of 5
181 Ratings
181 Ratings
annanjsjdbdje ,

Amazing game

poranernyhellbringer ,

Fun game

Hours of distraction yay

Developer Response ,

Thank you for the comment!

Godiva1212121 ,

A few issues. It a lot of fun.

I have been playing for a while. It’s very difficult without friends. But it is a lot of fun. Wish I could get nectar faster.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for your comment. We will take your comment into account.

275.9 MB
Requires iOS 9.3 or later. Compatible with iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, iPad Air, iPad Air Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 3 Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini 4, iPad mini 4 Wi-Fi + Cellular, 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 12.9-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, 9.7-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (5th generation), iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular (5th generation), 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2nd generation), 12.9-inch iPad Pro Wi‑Fi + Cellular (2nd generation), 10.5-inch iPad Pro, 10.5-inch iPad Pro Wi‑Fi + Cellular, iPad (6th generation), iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular (6th generation), iPad Pro (11-inch), iPad Pro (11-inch), iPad Pro (12.9-inch) (3rd generation), iPad Pro (12.9-inch) (3rd generation), and iPod touch (6th generation).
Age Rating
Rated 4+
© 2014 Enixan Limited S.A.
In-App Purchases
  1. Medium set $4.99
  2. Bowl of rubies $4.99
  3. Great discount $0.99

  • Game Center

    Challenge friends and check leaderboards and achievements.

  • Family Sharing

    With Family Sharing set up, up to six family members can use this app.

More By This Developer

You May Also Like


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The Met Office weather app gives you world-leading weather forecasts direct from the best national weather forecaster.

Know what the weather will do with the most accurate forecasts and local weather coverage from 1 hour to 7 days ahead.

- Check rainfall forecast for the next 24 hours or the past 6 hours with the interactive rainfall map (manual scroll or using play feature)
- Check real time UK National Severe Weather Warnings with the interactive warnings map for your UK saved locations and the rest of the UK
- Receive weather alerts for the latest official UK National Severe Weather Warnings for your saved locations as soon as warnings are issued – including snow, strong winds, ice, fog and rain forecasts
- Get the most up-to-date and accurate global weather forecast information available for the next seven days
- Personalise your forecasts and see how the weather could affect your day by saving multiple locations
- View both daily and hourly forecasts for your favourite locations
- Watch the latest TV weather forecasts, updated four times a day Monday to Friday, and three times a day at the weekend
- Hourly forecast weather widget in the Today View (iOS 10 or higher)
- Share the forecast with friends and family directly from the app

- Interactive UK rainfall map including both 24 hour forecast and 6 hour observations
- Interactive UK National Severe Weather Warnings map
- UK surface pressure map
- Probability of precipitation (rain, sleet, snow, hail, and drizzle)
- Actual temperature and ‘feels like’ temperature
- UK National Severe Weather Warnings alerts
- UK national weather forecast video
- Wind speed, direction and gusts
- Sunrise and sunset times
- Pollen and air pollution forecasts
- Pollen push notifications (from March to September)
- Local weather forecasts unlimited locations
- The ability to change your unit settings for temperature and wind speed
- UV Index, visibility, humidity and pressure

- Don’t like ads? Our app includes a £2.99 in-app purchase to remove all advertising.

We want to hear from you. The Met Office is committed to delivering new features based on your feedback and the reviews we receive. If you love our app rate and review it in the app store. If you have any suggestions please email
The app is designed to work on iOS 9, iOS 10 and iOS 11.
This app is ad-supported.

The Met Office app uses your location information to give you the most accurate and localised weather forecast possible.

You can turn off location settings at any time and your location information will not be collected. Select ‘Settings’ on your device, then the Met Office App, then disable location. To get a local forecast you will need to search and save locations within the app.

For more information on how we use any personal information we collect about you, please see our Privacy policy ( and Cookie policy (

- - -

About the Met Office
The Met Office is the UK’s national weather service and a world leader in providing weather and climate services. Recognised as one of the world’s most accurate forecasters, we use more than 10 million weather observations, an advanced atmospheric model and a high performance supercomputer to create 3,000 tailored forecasts and briefings every single day. We are also responsible for the UK National Severe Weather Warning Service, mandated by Government, which aims to give advance warning of extreme weather to the public. See for more information.

What’s New

Version 1.26.0

New winter background image and performance enhancements.

Ratings and Reviews

4.6 out of 5
574 Ratings
574 Ratings
DebShadovitz ,

Accurate weather info!

As a traveler I have very much appreciated having this app. When it has said rain will start at 1:00, the rain has come within 5 minutes of that. Now, that’s handy!
It’s fairly easy to use as well.

customer18492 ,

outrageously incorrect rain forecasts

The rain forecast percentages are completely off. I say “outrageous” because they differ wildly from both the default Weather app and the Dark Sky app—and, oh yeah, the actual weather. Frequent stretches of 60% predictions under cloudless skies, which the other apps know. Nice interface, so just copy the data from other apps and represent it. Meanwhile, I wasted $3 because I’m uninstalling this poor app.

Hezmana ,

Very simple

If you are looking for basic simple weather forecast this might be for you. I need much more detailed in. Appears that it might be a more effective app in the UK. The maps were just of the UK, not the USA.

Met Office
127.3 MB
Requires iOS 9.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Age Rating
Rated 4+
© HMSO and Queen's Printer
In-App Purchases
  1. ad-free version $2.99

  • Wallet

    Get all of your passes, tickets, cards, and more in one place.

  • Family Sharing

    With Family Sharing set up, up to six family members can use this app.

You May Also Like


text:
Opening Apple Books.If Apple Books doesn't open, click the Books app in your Dock.Progress Indicator

iTunes is the world's easiest way to organize and add to your digital media collection.

We are unable to find iTunes on your computer. To download from the iTunes Store, get iTunes now.

Already have iTunes? Click I Have iTunes to open it now.

I Have iTunes Free Download

僕 BOKU 11

This book can be downloaded and read in Apple Books on your Mac or iOS device.

screenshot 1
screenshot 2
screenshot 3
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screenshot 5
僕 BOKU 11
View in iTunes
  • $4.99
  • Available on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac.
  • Category: Other
  • Published: Jul 27, 2018
  • Publisher: ゴマブックス株式会社
  • Seller: Goma-Books Co., Ltd.
  • Print Length: 220 Pages
  • Language: Japanese
  • Series: 僕 ＢＯＫＵ
  • Requirements: This book can only be viewed on an iOS device with Apple Books on iOS 12 or later, iBooks 3.1 or later and iOS 6.1 or later, or a Mac with iBooks 1.0 or later and OS X 10.9 or later.

Customer Ratings

We have not received enough ratings to display an average for this book.


text:
a personal mission statement is defined as

A description for this result is not available because of this site's robots.txtLearn more
Dec 16, 2013 -
Oct 1, 2015 -
A personal mission statement is based on habit 2 of 7 Habits of Highly Effective ... statement, it's not as important as to what you call it, no it's how you define your
Nov 4, 2015 -
01 /06 | Why You Should Write a Personal Mission Statement and 5 CEOs Who ... It helps guide them by defining who they are and why they do what they do.
Think about where you want to go, with a personal mission statement. One of the most important things that corporate leaders do is define their organization's
Oct 8, 2012 -

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Or visit this link or this one


text:
Jacobar Jacobar
Jacobar Jacobar

2R Creative

Branding / Logo / Web

2r Creative is a South Florida-based event planning company. They needed a new logo that would be more fashionable than the one they had, better representing the services they provide and the clients they work with, in addition to branding on collateral material.

Our Approach

We created a logo with a deconstructed customized sans serif font that had the fashionable feel of a Nike or a Chanel. A kind of glyph that seems both timeless and of-the-moment, it worked with both the company name and as a stand alone graphic. We provided sample uses on stationary, business cards and other branding. A new website for the company is currently under development.

Project scope included:

  • Logo and identity package

  • Sample branded accessories

  • Website design and development

2R-jacober-casestudy-2.jpg 2R-jacober-casestudy-1.jpg 2R-jacober-casestudy-3.jpg 2R-jacober-casestudy-5.1.jpg 2R-jacober-casestudy-6.jpg 2R-jacober-casestudy-7.jpg 2R-jacober-casestudy-8.jpg


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4 ways to integrate your company blog into your overall marketing

We’ve all heard that quote by William Davis, “the road to success runs uphill” but in the case of promoting a business of any size, it does not have to be. Yes, it’s hard work, but careful and strategic planning makes the small business marketing process much easier, efficient and affordable.

The key to any marketing plan is to have an integrated approach, meaning that the different marketing components must integrate with each other, and align with the company’s sales goals.

Integrate your into appropriate social media

Social integration is what most people think of when trying to incorporate their blog into their overall marketing.

Most assuredly, you should share your blog on all social channels immediately when you publish (this really can be automated). But how often to you reshare your blog? First, schedule resharing on each social platform you use for times that are considered best for that audience.
Secondly, if the information is still accurate and good, you should share the blog several times throughout the coming months. What may not have been pertinent to a potential customer at the time may now be necessary information.

Another way to integrate your blog with your social media is to introduce your blog via Facebook Live or even YouTube. You can do a preview and tease to the upcoming blog entry, or you can do a post-publish highlights broadcast.

A third way to better integrate your blog into social media is to shut off comments on your blog and invite them to a post on Facebook where they can join the discussion.

Integrate the blog into the company newsletter

Bring attention to your blog by sharing links in your newsletter. However, simply posting links to your latest blog posts in your newsletter will not garner the number of clicks you would want. Instead, consider choosing your best or most pertinent blog that was posted since your last newsletter to feature.

How do you do this? Write a summary or even include the first paragraph of the blog into your newsletter and then do a “to learn more” link to the blog.

Have more than one blog you want to feature? No problem. Simply make sure that your newsletter has some fresh content that is not anywhere else. Without exclusive content, your readers won’t have a reason to keep opening your newsletter.

Use the blog to generate a contact list

This tip could be considered part of the newsletter tip, but you have the potential for other types of contacts besides newsletter subscribers. When people subscribe to your blog, or even if they simply read it frequently, you are creating a relationship with that audience.

My recommendation is to use your blog to invite people to engage with you in other ways, including subscribing to your newsletter and your “snail mail” mailing list. If you use WordPress, it’s pretty easy to set up subscriber sign-ups using various plugins like SumoMe.

Use blog content to create e-books or white papers

E-books and whitepapers are increasingly popular forms of marketing, especially whitepapers. You can blend your blog into these concepts two ways: either take blogs you’ve already written and compile the ideas into a single, cohesive document, or you can do the reverse and take a whitepaper or e-book and break it up into individual blog posts. Either way, make sure that you cross promote both the blog and e-book/whitepaper.

Do you have other ways to integrate your overall marketing plan? Do you need help integrating your blog into your plan? Contact Jamie’s Notebook today to learn how to better integrate your overall marketing efforts.

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text:
Church, Why Bother?

In today’s world, there is a lot of discussion about the church, both universal and local congregations.  The universal church is comprised of all Christians of all times and places.  As Christians or Believers, we gather in local congregations for worship, etc.   For purposes of this discussion, the term “church” references the local congregation.

I grew up in church.   I was on the cradle roll.  I remember my first Sunday School class as a 3 year old with Mrs. Carter.  Church on Sunday was normal and expected.  I never really questioned why we went to church.  It’s what we did. I was an adult before I realized that attending church wasn’t really a requirement and that people around me actually survived without attending church.

I grew up in the Southern Baptist denomination.  We had  Sunday School and a worship service on Sunday morning.  Sunday evenings, we had Training Union and another worship service.  Wednesday night was for another service called Prayer Meeting, but it seemed to me that it was just a smaller Bible study service.  I was part of the youth choir so that meant attending rehearsals.  I grew up as a Sunbeam, a GA and an Acteen, more meetings during the week.  There were special book studies for the various mission emphasis times: Lottie Moon at Christmas, Annie Armstrong at Easter, and Mary Hill Davis in September.  We have revival meetings twice a year that lasted a week and included a noon meeting and and evening service and maybe a special emphasis night for youth.  I attended Vacation Bible School every summer for a week.  (I remember having 2 weeks of VBS, too.)  And, then there was GA camp, Youth camp and other youth events/trips to conferences and music festivals.  I spent a lot of time in church related activities.  I was well versed in what was expected of me and the respect that I needed to give through my attitudes and presentation.

As a college student, I learned the difference in attending church and being a part of worship.  There is a big difference.  I spent most of my life attending church.  Realizing what it meant to truly worship revolutionized my life.  People worship in lots of ways.  Some are very quiet and private with their worship.  Some people raise their hands and lose themselves in the worship experience.  Some believe that speaking in tongues is a requirement to worship.  Some believe you have to worship on your knees.   However you worship is between you and God.  I cannot stress how important it is to just be in the moment and worship openly from the heart.  It is not my right or my responsibility to judge how you worship.  Some of the sweetest worship times for me occurred during music rehearsals for the services and not during the actual worship services.   I served as a worship leader and as such couldn’t really get completely caught up in my own worship experience during the services.  But, rehearsals were different.  I could allow my heart to truly worship my audience of One.

As a young, newly married adult, I served with my husband in several churches across the area.   One in particular comes to mind.  It was a small church in a changing area of the city.  No longer a middle class neighborhood, they struggled to survive.  It was a traditional Southern Baptist Church.  We sang hymns, had a choir and used both a piano and organ for the music.  I sat through service after service and starved spiritually.  This was a church that refused to adjust to the changes around them.  Reaching the local people was not really on the agenda.  The church was there to provide a food bank but we didn’t really want “those” people inside the church.  We were eventually asked to resign because my husband was getting too involved with the local troubled kids.  I have never been as wounded by a group of people in my life.  It took a long time for me to trust the local church, again.

As an adult, I am very involved with my church.  Things have changed.  I have realized that in order to have church you do not have to have a church building.  My church meets in a movie theater.  There are numerous churches in this area that rent space in the local schools.  Portable churches are an accepted and even exciting way to do church in today’s world.  People that are hesitant about the formal church are more open about attending in a non-typical arena.  We see it every Sunday at the Bridge.  It’s a sad truth that many churches thrive and grow until they finance and build a building.  Then, the excitement is cooled as the need to support the building and it’s upkeep comes front and center.

I have come to understand and support Life Groups as the core of the church.  While Sunday School had it’s place in my life, I have grown more through Life Groups.  They provide a casual and far more personal way to engage in spiritual growth.  Life Groups provide a more relatable group in  which to learn  and to grow.  It’s much easier to be open in a group of ten to twelve than in a huge group.  Life groups create a feeling of family and acceptance.  They get down to the day to day needs in our lives and enable us to fully worship when the time is offered.

Music has definitely morphed through the years.  We have the old hymns, we have the older contemporary music and we have the new worship music.  I learned to play the piano using the Baptist Hymnal.  It was blue.  When that hymnal was updated, it caused a lot of excitement.  There were “contemporary” songs included like “He’s Everything to Me”, “Pass It On”, and “Because He Lived”.  People that never really cared about music suddenly preferred the “old hymnal”.  (I was pianist at one church in the 80’s that still used the old Broadman Hymnal because “it was just better.”)  I still have copies of all three hymnals and enjoy the music contained in them.  But, I also love the “new” stuff. Of all the things people use as an excuse to avoid church involvement, music and the use of other creative arts seem to top the list.  No matter what is provided, someone is not happy.

Recently, I’ve seen a few posts on social media that were critical of using the church services for “entertainment”.  I suspect that the church I attend would fall in that category to the outside observer.   This generation is known for being global, social, visual and technological.  In the last decade, the cell phone has revolutionized the way we collect and perceive information.  Instead of carrying a Bible in book form, the Bible App has become a mainstay for many.   Hymnals have been replaced with projection systems.  Church Bulletins are more reminders to go to the church website for information than actual information.

While we tend to focus on the musical influences in church services, there are a multitude of creative arts that can and are used to promote worship. No longer is the primary instrument in a church the organ and/or piano.  A full band is now expected.  In the past, we all took piano lessons and would be expected to play at church.  Now, its guitar or drum lessons.  Praise Dancers are not a new concept, but they are more widely accepted across denominations now.  My late husband was a creative soul and loved to write and perform skits for the worship services.  He was also a proponent of building backgrounds to enable all of the senses to be engaged in worship.  Lighting, sound and (for lack of a better word) theatrics have taken their place in the worship services.  We want our services to be on point, on time and worth remembering.

With all of the opinions on the type of service, where the services are held, the target audience, what to wear and what music to use, we often lose sight of the reason we are there: TO WORSHIP.  It hurts this believer’s heart when factions within the local church start bickering and criticizing each other and/or other churches/denominations.  How can we expect to present ourselves as the Body of Christ when we continue to pick at each other?  How do you know that the brilliantly staged service doesn’t open the hearts of the congregation to worship?  Just because it doesn’t fit into “MY” model, does that make it wrong?  Maybe we need to take heed of the message in the book of Ephesians:

“But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is,

He climbed the high mountain,
He captured the enemy and seized the booty,
He handed it all out in gifts to the people.

Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.”  Ephesians 4:7-13 MSG

The Old Ways

Anyone that has been around me for very long knows that I love music.  There are few things as satisfying to me as singing really tight well tuned harmonies with others.  That’s one of the reasons I love to sing the “old” hymns.  They were written for harmony.  With that type of music, you don’t need all the instrumentation:  the voices are the instruments.

But, I also love the “new” music (at least some of it!)  Technology has moved us past simple piano/organ accompaniments.  We now have  so  many variations of guitars, drums, keyboards, etc.   It’s fun to see all of the components fit together and the excitement often builds with the noise level.

I get amused when people start comparing music styles.  The argument for singing hymns is often the history and the message in each of them.  I jokingly refer to the  blue Baptist Hymnal with which I grew up as “God’s Hymnal.”  Between the King James Bible and the Baptist Hymnal, we had a lock on all things religiously important!  I still love many of the hymns from that hymnal:  #96 At Calvary, #240 Just as I Am.  I knew the page numbers of the hymns we sang quite often by heart.  I could also sing verses 1, 2 & 4 from memory for many of those.

But changes occur.  The first ripple I remember was “The Good News for Modern Man” version of the Bible.  It was easier to understand, but was still not treated as “THE Bible.”  Then came the Living Bible and the New American Standard Bible.  Newer translations and paraphrases were used more and more.  The New International Version moved onto the scene as well as The Message and countless others.  And none caused a bigger stir in the Baptist world as the introduction of the NEW Baptist Hymnal.  The hymn numbers were different.  They included some of the “new” songs like “Pass It On” and “He’s Everything to Me.” Some people still were lamenting the loss of the Broadman Hymnal with the shaped notes and the “real” hymns.  I remember the comments at the time.  But, we  moved forward and the world as we know it did not end.  We continued to have church, we continued to sing.  We just did it differently.

Just as I use various translations and paraphrases of the Bible to study and learn, I use different styles of music to worship and enjoy.  “The Old Rugged Cross” is still dear to me.  “Victory in Jesus” will never go out of style.  And the memories that these older songs bring up are precious indeed.  My college years were filled with music by Amy Grant, Dallas Holme & Praise, the Imperials and other contemporary artists of the day.  They were loud and new-fangled to my parents, but they are old-fashioned to my kids way of thinking.

I recently had a conversation with one of my daughters and she commented on the old music being played by the local Christian radio station.  I couldn’t help but laugh.  The “old” stuff was MercyMe, Chris Tomlin, and other artists I still consider relevant.  But, the praise music we hear today is more often from Bethel, Elevation, or the newest Hillsong iteration.  Within Contemporary Christian music, a new division has been emerged:  Praise and Worship.  The other stuff is just old and boring.

I will continue to enjoy both the old and the new.  There are new versions of the old hymns introduced every year.  Who hasn’t been moved by “My Chains are Gone” or “The Wonderful Cross” or “Cornerstone”.  All use hymns as their basis.  I can’t wait to see where music is in 10 years.  Will “What a Beautiful Name” or “Oceans” join the ranks of “Because He Lives” and “Shout to the Lord” as “old” hymns?  Will we continue our trek back to tighter harmonies and more unplugged sessions?  Just as fashions seem to come back into style and translations change, what music will be popular again?

And in case you’re interested, there are songs that move me to tears in just a few notes:  “The Strategic Air Command March”, “Under the Double Eagle” and “Stars and Stripes Forever”.  All are marches (not hymns) that bring up some very bright and wonderful memories for me of my years playing trombone with my high school band.  Music speaks to the soul.  You may have a particular genre that you prefer and that is just fine.  Please allow that others react differently.  Just because it’s new (and maybe loud) don’t discard it immediately.  Let God use His music of all kinds to speak to you.

19 Talk with each other much about the Lord, quoting psalms and hymns and singing sacred songs, making music in your hearts to the Lord. 20 Always give thanks for everything to our God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:19-20 TLB

So, that was Christmas. . .

It’s December 26th,  the day after Christmas.  Some of us have already gone back to the office.  Others are still enjoying time off.  There are ski trips to take, family to visit, and malls to invade with after Christmas sales and gift cards.  What was the holiday for you?

Because Christmas eve was on Sunday this year, many churches in our area held  Christmas Eve services instead of the normal Sunday morning services.  I was quite happy to attend the service in the morning, but I heard more than a few people grumble about not having an evening service.  I was amazed to hear the grumbling and grousing about it all.  After all, what would it take to do just one little service that evening?  Having been married to a minister for many years and also being an active volunteer for more years than that, let me tell you what that would entail.

For a regular Sunday morning service, the worship team arrives at least an hour earlier than the scheduled service.  And any setup, has to be done even earlier than that.   For the church I attend, the worship team is asked to be on stage by 7:45am and the setup crew starts at arrives begins to unload before 7:00am.  Even in churches that are not “mobile”, the worship leader (or music minister, jack-of-all trades) has to arrive early enough to get the sound system and stage areas setup and to solve any issues that may arise due to damage to said equipment during the previous days.  If there are multiple services, you may have multiple setups to do depending on the location and style of each service.  At my former church, on a normal Sunday, the praise team & band will lead  3 services that cover 2 different styles of music.  By the time you get there at 11:00, they’ve already been going 2 1/2 hours at least.  And there’s always someone ready to complain about the type of music, the speed of the music, the volume of the band or even how involved any of the members seemed to be during the service(s).

So, let’s consider this past Sunday.  There were 3 Christmas Eve services at my church.  Everything was ready to go by 9:00 am.  The videos were ready.  The prelude music was playing.  The donuts and coffee were in place.  All of the lighting was working and every seat in the theater where we meet had a special bracelet that was synced to the music that would be played/sung that morning.  There was a full band, a worship team, a sound & lighting crew.  There was also a kid’s praise team that was choreographed for a Christmas song.  We had a great time and were done by 9:55 am.  The people attending at 10:00 were lined up as we walked out.  There were volunteers busily making last-minute adjustments for the next service and then it began all over again.  And that happened once more at 11:00am.  By the time all three packed services were done and everything put away, the crew and worship team had spent 5 hours preparing and leading.  And that doesn’t count any rehearsal time outside of that Sunday.   They were ready to crash and enjoy their own families after that.

Having been married to a minister for several years and a volunteer for many more years, the holidays add a whole different level of stress.  Families often suffer as Mom and/or Dad are involved in  numerous rehearsals and planning sessions.  Family Christmas celebrations take 2nd place to providing the perfect Christmas Eve  or Christmas Day service(s) for everyone else.   Trying to figure out how to feed grumpy kids on Christmas Eve when you have to be getting everything prepped in the late afternoon and then won’t be done for several hours makes the holidays a bit irksome at times.  And, if you know a minister that has extended family living in another town (or state), you know a minister and family that been forced to drive on Christmas Day to get to celebrate the holidays with family.

I’m not complaining about the years I spent as a volunteer.  Some of the best worship times for me happened during rehearsal and setup before the “real” service.  I just wish people would consider how much work it takes to make it look so easy.  Let your worship team members and leaders know how much you appreciate them.  Maybe you don’t care for the music or the volume, but at least you have the opportunity to worship (and not like it) every week.  Your worship leaders very seldom hear the compliments, but they ALWAYS hear the complaints.

Wishing you a wonderful 2018!  Let’s make it a great year full of joy, laughter and love for our church family.

Faithful or Fusspot

Is there anyone in the Bible to whom you relate? Are you like Mary  of Mary & Martha and just can’t wait to sit at Jesus feet?  Or maybe you are more of a Martha, always busy and wanting everyone else to be busy too?  Are you an evangelist like Peter or Paul? What about a leader like Moses or Joshua?  There are lots of people to use as a yardstick for our Spiritual lives.  Throughout life, circumstances and/or decisions may change your view of yourself.

I often have used King David as an example.  He was “a man after God’s own heart” and he did some very questionable things.  His faithfulness was never in doubt, even when his human desires stepped in to take over the situation.  But lately, another well know name from the Bible has come to mind more and more:  Jonah.

Jonah was a Hebrew prophet that God told to go to Nineveh and preach for their repentance.  Jonah didn’t like the people of Nineveh.  He didn’t think they deserved forgiveness.  So he did what every faithful follower does when faced with a distasteful assignment:  he ran the opposite direction.  We are all familiar with the story of Jonah and the Whale.  A big storm, Jonah thrown into the sea, a whale swallows him, after 3 days Jonah is vomited onto the shore. God once again tells Jonah to go to Nineveh.  At this point, Jonah decides to follow God’s instruction.

“This time Jonah started off straight for Nineveh, obeying God’s orders to the letter.  Nineveh was a big city, very big—it took three days to walk across it.   Jonah entered the city, went one day’s walk and preached, “In forty days Nineveh will be smashed.”

The people of Nineveh listened, and trusted God. They proclaimed a citywide fast and dressed in burlap to show their repentance. Everyone did it—rich and poor, famous and obscure, leaders and followers.”  Jonah 3:3-5  MSG

Jonah was successful.  The people heard what he had to say and repented.   And God forgave the people of Nineveh.   This was a reason to celebrate!  But, not for Jonah!

Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God, “God! I knew it—when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That’s why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of  forgiveness!  So, God, if you won’t kill them, kill me! I’m better off dead!”  Jonah 4:1-4  MSG

Jonah was not at all happy.  He did not like it one bit.  He fussed and complained because God had given these horrible people another chance.  He went out of the city and sat and pouted and sulked.  We never find out if Jonah reconciled himself with God’s forgiveness.

If I’m completely honest,  Jonah’s reaction is very familiar.  I know there have been times that I just wanted to tell God what to do and how to do it.  In fact, I have done just that on several occasions.  I’m pretty sure I know who should be punished and who should be forgiven.  I’m pretty sure I know how things should be done.  And I’m more that willing to fill God in on the appropriate processes, especially when it comes to my worship services at my church.

  1.  There are people who just don’t deserve forgiveness.  I have a hard time letting go of the past.  There are some people who have caused pain to my family that I do NOT like.  I’ve been very eager to point out how they did not deserve God’s forgiveness.  Fortunately, God didn’t consider whether or not I deserved His Grace.  He just forgave me.
  2. What’s wrong with the way “we’ve always done it”?  I claim that I don’t like changes.  But, I’m always ready for the next computer or cell phone or other technology that is out there.  So, why can’t I be as open about changes in the way God leads in my church or my worship?
  3. The kids aren’t being taught respect.  Just look how they dress in church. When I was a child, I had school clothes, play clothes and Sunday clothes.  I had dresses that were only worn on Sundays that were a bit fancier than my other clothes.  Through the years, the way we dress has changed for work, for school and for church.  Business casual is the norm at work.  T-Shirts and jeans are acceptable nearly every where else.  Dressing up is not the norm.  I did require my daughter to wear a “girl” top and my son to wear a collared shirt on Sunday’s.  The more relaxed clothing expectations has made it more comfortable for some to attend church.  I still object to short-shorts or work-out clothes at church, but I can only control my own reactions.
  4. I hate the music used in church worship.  It’s too old-fashioned (or modern).   Music has become one of the most divisive areas in our churches.  If you grew up with the hymns and hymnals, the new stuff is “too loud” or “too repetitive” or “not musical”.  If you didn’t grow up with hymns, then they are “old-fashioned” or “have too many word” or “don’t make sense”.  I remember the discussions that arose over changing from the Broadman Hymnal to the Baptist Hymnal and then  later to the New Baptist Hymnal.  There were too many new songs (like “He’s Everything to Me”  or  “Because He Lives”) in this newer version.  I may prefer the “old” hymns over the newer praise music. However, my preferences cannot be the most important ones.  God is in control.  He has a plan.  I need to follow His leadership instead of pouting on the sidelines.  And, I’ve learned to love some of the newer worship songs.  Especially the ones that include a taste of the “old” hymns.
  5. Real worship only occurs in the sanctuary of a church building.  Many of the  churches that are most successful at reaching the community are meeting in schools, strip-centers, etc.  The less “churchy” environment is more inviting some.  My church meets in a movie theater.  We have the most comfortable seats around!
  6. Real worship needs an organ and a piano.  I don’t like guitars & drums.  Some of my dearest memories are of the Mrs. Stapp playing the organ at church.  I’ve played piano in my several churches throughout my life.  Not every church can afford a piano and an organ.  Many churches have no one to play them anyway.  Piano lessons were a given when I was a child: everyone when through lessons and recitals.  That’s not the case any longer.  A well prepared band or even a single guitar player can greatly enhance the worship experience. God used the loaves and fishes to feel the multitude, can’t He also use a guitar to feel your spirit?

I’ve done my share of complaining and pouting.  I understand Jonah a little more that I would like to admit.  I may want to be more like David and be recognized as one after God’s own heart.  But, I know that I am so much like Jonah in wanting things done MY WAY.  Unlike Jonah, I want the end of my story to be clear: I followed God’s leading regardless of my own preferences.

What about you?  Will you known as one of the Faithful or as the Fusspot who grudgingly served God?

A Great Man

I have known a few great men in my life.  A great man teaches by just the way they live each day.  Today, the world lost another truly great man, James Streit.

I first remember Mr. Streit when we went to find out about band in the 5th grade. My mother and I were looking at the various instruments and someone asked “What instruments will you need?”  and he replied, trombones.  And that made my decision.  I was going to play the trombone.  When my own children began band, I realized how truly patient Mr. Streit was with we beginners.  We weren’t nearly as good as we thought, but Mr. Streit always made us feel like we were superior!

As a sixth grader, Mr. Streit was my home room teacher as well as my Texas History teacher.  That was the first year that the Crowell Marching Band made all  I’s at contest.  Our home room class made posters and had a little “coke” party for Mr. Streit that day.  I’ll never forget his bashful grin and little laugh when he walked into the room.

Mr. Streit encouraged all of us to go to band tryouts.  The first year I went to tryouts, there were only 5 of us.  By the time I was a junior in high school, we took 2 school buses to the tryouts.  Mr. Streit worked with every student.  It didn’t matter if you had a gift for music or if you couldn’t “carry a tune in a bucket”, he treated us all the same.

There are several things that immediately bring Mr. Streit to mind: 1) circles, 2) the songs “Light my Fire” and “Sweet Caroline” and 3) music stands.

We learned so many circle drills during my 6 years in the CHS band.  (Yes, 6 years.  We started marching as 7th graders.)  We did circles with crosses in the middle.  We did circles with bands running from one to the other.  We did a circle and a square.  We did a 4 circle drill.  While there were other songs that we used for circle drills, “Light my Fire” is the one that sticks in my mind.  When I hear it, I am immediately transported to the practice field with little flags marking our circles and the positions.  The time he spent prepping our shows was amazing.  We learned several shows through the season, not just one and he always stressed that we were a concert band that marched.  And, “Sweet Caroline”.  On my, how many times did we play that one as the band sweetheart or the homecoming queen and their courts were walked across the field.  I can almost feel the breeze and see the lights of the stadium even now.

One of my favorite memories involved Mr. Streit’s music stand.  One of the things that anyone that had Mr. Streit in band will always remember is his temper.  Mr. Streit was a very calm, very nice man.  But, as the stress level rose, so did his breaking point.  We all knew that at some point during marching season, the megaphone would go flying.  It was never thrown at anyone in particular, just at the ground in frustration.  There would be stomping and yelling.  Then, he would regain his composure (and we would try not to snicker) and rehearsal would resume with a new focus.  Similarly, during concert season, we came to expect a blowup.  When he reached the end of his patience with our antics and/or lack of attention, Mr. Streit would pick up his music stand and band it on the floor.  Sometimes, several times to get our attention.  There were several of us, including Mr. Streit’s son Scott, that spent our study hall in the band hall.  Sometimes, we practiced.  Sometimes, we sorted music or ran errands.  Usually, we just wanted out of study hall.  On this particular day, we knew that Mr. Streit was nearing his breaking point.  So, “someone” loosened the screws that held the music stand together.  That afternoon during our band period, we went out of our way to be annoying.  Finally, Mr. Streit had enough.  He picked up the music stand, but this time it fell apart in his hands;   the sound of metal pieces falling across the floor.  He stood there for a moment and then looked up.   For a moment, I thought he might throw the remains at us as tried to hold back the giggles.  He blushed, shook his head and laughed with us.

The highest honor that a band could received was to be named the state honor band.  In 1975-1976, the Crowell High School Band was the ranking Class A All State Honor Band.  In the fall of ’75, we began preparing for the marching season and our TMEA concert.  That meant, full rehearsals in the mornings before school started as well as our normal afternoon band period and our Tuesday night rehearsal.  We worked hard.  There were sectionals in our band hall as well as in  Wichita Falls.  We had clinicians that came and heard us and made suggestions.  The low brass clinician was Mr. Charles Enloe.  We went to Wichita Falls several times to rehearse with him.  After one session, we were back in our band and we began playing Chorale and Capriccio.  There’s a section that was all trombone.  Mr. Enloe had taught us to blast that section out.  The first time we did it in rehearsal, Mr. Streit stopped us and told  us “Not to do that!”.  The next time Mr. Enloe was around, he was quite upset when we didn’t play like he had directed.  This went on for a few sessions.  Finally, Mr. Enloe did a band clinic and we played the section like Mr. Streit had directed.  Mr. Enloe landed right in the middle of the trombone section giving us quite a tongue lashing.  I can still see Mr. Streit walking around the gym behind Mr. Enloe looking back at me rather sheepishly during this time.  He did admit to Mr. Enloe that we were following his directions.  We played it Mr. Enloe’s way from then on.

I am so blessed to have had Mr. Streit in my life.  I was an adult with kids before many of the things he taught me really came to light.  He taught me that people will rise to your expectations.  He taught me that you treat everyone as if they are the best.  He taught me not to play favorites.  There are students that Mr. Streit touched that had never felt important or valuable.  He instilled value in his students.  He invested his time and energy in building the best students he could and built the best program in the area.  I can only try to impart the same things to the people who come across my path.  Thank you Mr. Streit.  You were more that just a band director.  You were an example of goodness and kindness.

Our world is better for having known James Streit.  He will be missed.


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Books, Essays, Politics

As I recently wrote in my review of Doughnut Economics, an entire literary market – largely of the left-wing variety – has sprung up to capitalise on the post-economic crash confusion left in the wake of 2008. Academics, journalists and politicians are all racking their brains for big answers to even-bigger questions, praying that confounded consumers will lap it all up over the Waterstones counter (or Amazon’s). Most will flounder, but there is one which I cannot help but recommend – a book so good that I really do think everyone with even the mildest of interests in politics and society should read it.

Join me, as we journey to Rutger Bregman’s Utopia for Realists.

The first thing you should know about Utopia for Realists is that it is unabashedly, well, utopian. Bregman makes clear throughout that the ideas he proposes (a universal basic income, a 15-hour working week and global open borders) will be regarded by most as infeasible and impossible. What is so attractive about the prose, however, is the awareness that utopianism is not enough to persuade people on its own – which is why it is marketed to realists. Almost every page is densely packed with evidence and examples of the proposed policies, gradually compounding the sense that they are not utopian at all.

Did you know that President Richard Nixon was *this* close to signing a universal basic income into law in the ’70s? Or that many UBI trials have been wildly successful, limiting income insecurity with a negligible impact on employment? What about how John Maynard Keynes, one of the most important economists of the 20th Century, believed that in today’s world a dramatically shortened working week would be a reality? What of the evidence that open borders, like free trade, can actually enhance economic prosperity?

You most likely didn’t. Bregman even goes to pains to bust the myths of all the above (including, in some cases, falsified and/or inaccurate evidence), whilst pointing out that he may be predisposed to search for the evidence which already supports his ideas. Utopia for Realists is not a book for the ideologically self-indulgent, for those with no possibility of ever changing their minds – it is written to persuade, which Bregman achieves with remarkable skill.

My main issue with the book comes from the fact that, once one strips away the flourishes of rhetoric, there are certain practicalities (or realism’s, rather) that pain the policies, which Bregman doesn’t necessarily address. A universal basic income and a 15-hour working week hinge on dramatic increases in automation which may not come to fruition for some time. It’s certainly true that automation does exist and we just don’t think about it (self-checkouts and vending machines, for example), but we’re a long ways off from the kind which will create mass unemployment. And what of the tensions which arise from high-scale immigration? Bregman’s pro-immigration case is refreshing, given that the entire discourse is relegated to negativity (which harms debate), but the culture clashes which can arise would be extrapolated significantly if borders were flung open across the globe. How do we avert this?

Then there are the practicalities of shortening the working week. It’s common sense that well-rested people produce better work, but for some industries (chiefly hospitality and retail) which must operate 24/7, the seams are already tearing. My long-standing concern of such policies is that they are the preserve of white-collar workers, who are much more able to take time off than the barmen, binmen and shop floor workers of the world.

At its heart, though, I don’t think Utopia for Realists is a book just for those interested in UBI or any of that sort. It need not be a book for left-wing people, either. Rather, it’s a book for anyone who wants to change the future. We spend too much time thinking that the future is fixed and that we simply have to prepare for it, forgetting that humans are active agents in the story of the world, perfectly able to create the future we want. There is very little that is concrete and sacrosanct about our planet, which we tend to forget.

Even worse, the brightest amongst us are working on “making people click more ads,” not trying to bring us closer to utopia. It is a malleable term, designed to be a destination always in the distance, but we seem to have given up even trying to sail the ship. Regardless of your politics, we could all do with a bit of optimism and a bit of reassurance that, actually, the future is what we make of it, and many things we now treat as common sense – education, democracy, not enslaving people – were once thought impossible utopianism.

Until they happened.

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Path vs Classpath

The PATH environment variable contains a set of directories within the file system that the operating system uses to find executable files. When you type a command in command prompt, operating system will look for the corresponding executable in the current folder and then it will look inside every folder mentioned in the PATH environment variable in order. For instance, when you type javac, OS will search for java.exe within the current folder and then every folder mentioned inside in the PATH environment variable in order. If it can't find one, you'll get "Command not found" error message. The "bin" directory of your jdk contains the javac.exe file. Therefore, if you type "javac" in command prompt, you should have the "bin" directory in the PATH or you should execute from the bin directory.

If your path to jdk bin folder (where javac is there) is 'C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_13\bin', then you can add it to the PATH environment variable in windows as:

set PATH=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_13\bin;%PATH%

%PATH% will be replaced by existing path PATH environment variable contents.

[N] Directory paths in an environment variable is separated using semicolon (;) in windows and colon (:) in Unix.

The CLASSPATH environment variable contains a set of directories within the file system or JAR file loactions that JDK/JVM will search for Java class files while compiling/executing a Java program. Setting a class path can be done similar to setting PATH, just use CLASSPATH instead of PATH.You can also specify classpath along with java command using classpath or cp options as:

java -classpath path HelloWorld

java -cp path HelloWorld

[N] -classpath will take precedence over any CLASSPATH environment variable set.

[N] When working in the command promt, the current directory is denoted by dot (.) and parent directory is denoted by dot dot (..)

[N] If CLASSPATH variable is not set, java will add the current directory to CLASSPATH, but if you provide CLASSPATH, then you need to explicitly add the current directory (.) to class path.

java -cp . HelloWorld

To add current directory with other folders in a classpath, separate it with a semicolon or colon as per the OS you use as:

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Spring Boot 2 – An overview: All those “little” updates and improvements

Michael Simons
© / Igor Bukhlin

Upgrades to the latest version of supported libraries and tools, enhancements through and with Spring Framework 5, and changes to the heart of Spring Boot. The second major release of Spring Boot leaves no stone unturned. The last part of this series focuses on some “minor” changes and improvements in Spring Boot 2.

Michael Simons is a speaker at JAX 2018 and author of the book “Spring Boot – Moderne Softwareentwicklung im Spring Ökosystem“, published by dpunkt.verlag.

Java 8 baseline and Java 9+ support

Spring Boot 2 is based on the Spring Framework 5 and therefore requires Java 8. Conversely, this signifies that Spring Boot 2 cannot run on Java 7 or older versions of the programming language. Spring Framework 5 is fully compatible with Java Development Kit 9 (JDK 9), both in development and deployment, and works on both the class and module paths.

But what about Jakarta EE / Java EE?

Spring Framework 5 requires the Java EE 7 API and supports the Java EE 8 API at runtime. This means that at least Tomcat 8.5, Jetty 9.4 or WildFly 10 are required. Servlet 4, Validation 2.0, JPA 2.2 and JSON Binding 1.0 are also supported and have been tested extensively.

Spring Framework 5

Upgrading to Spring Framework 5 removes several deprecated classes and features including Hibernate 3 and 5, Tiles 3, Portlet, Velocity, JasperReports, XMLBeans, JDO and Guava in particular. If your application relies on one or more of these features, better stick to the Spring Boot 1.5.x release cycle. Furthermore, Spring Framework 5 brings new features: interfaces are consistently annotated with Nullable or NotNullable and the core container supports functional bean registration (the 4th possibility to build components according to XML, annotations and the explicit Java configuration).

Updated Web MVC and a completely revamped WebFlux

I already presented the new WebFlux module in detail, but the Web MVC was also updated: It supports the Servlet 4.0 specification, is now independent of the Java Activation Framework, can bind immutable objects and much more.

Kotlin support

Spring Framework 5 has first-class support for Kotlin based on a domain-specific language (DSL). It is used to configure the application context, to route WebFlux and for a multitude of adaptations regarding language features. These features include reified types to avoid constant casting.

JUnit 5

While Spring Boot 2 still uses JUnit 4 for testing by default, it fully supports the JUnit Jupiter platform via Spring Framework 5 and provides SpringExtension, @SpringJUnitConfig and more. Plus: If you want to annoy your colleagues, you may make use of @EnabledIf or @DisabledIf on the CI server.

Further notable updates

Major updates of the following dependencies have also been applied:

  • Thymeleaf 3 is now not only supported, but default. This can result in some work if your application uses its own dialects.
  • Flyway is now used in version 5.
  • The update to Hibernate 5.2 will force you to take another look at your entity mapping code.

Changes in Spring Boot 2

  • @ConfigurationProperties are only validated if they are marked as @Validated.
  • The binding mechanism has been completely rewritten and can be used in a trivial way if you want to test and bind properties very early as part of a starter.
  • All properties, packages and classes used in the context of an embedded servlet container have been restructured and now reflect the dualism of Spring Web MVC and WebFlux.
  • There is a practical new starter: spring-boot-starter-json. This will load and register all libraries Json needs to process Java-8 data types.
  • Spring Boot now uses HikariCP as the default pool for database connections.
  • If Hibernate is used in combination with an embedded database, spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto is only set to create-drop if no schema manager like Flyway or Liquibase is involved.
  • Custom starters are affected by a small but important change: @ConditionalOnBean now uses AND instead of OR to link multiple, specified beans.

A Hello World application will easily be migrated. In most cases, however, applications in the real world consist of more than one endpoint. The numerous upgrades of upstream libraries alone should be treated with caution.

There is nothing wrong with setting up new services using Spring Boot 2. It has now been in development for over a year and as the author of a book on the subject, it was an interesting experience to accompany this development. However, an existing application should not be updated simply by changing a version number in the build file.

As a reward for upgrading, there are reactive applications, modern platforms and last but not least: animated banners (see Tweet). So now I know which topic I can take up as an example for my own starters in 2018.

Spring Boot – Modern software development within the Spring ecosystem
The Spring Boot book will be published in late April 2018 and will cover all current topics related to Spring Boot 2. In addition to the reactive programming model with Spring 5, this includes the new actuator infrastructure, support and much more. This book is intended to appeal to interested developers from the Java EE area as well as Spring developers and give them a “recipe” to handle recurring tasks from everyday business life elegantly and without distraction using Spring Boot.

Further information on the book can be found here!

spring boot

Michael Simons

Michael Simons works as a Senior Consultant at innoQ Germany. He is a member of the NetBeans Dream Team and founder of the Euregio JUG. Michael writes on his blog about Java, Spring and software architecture. He is on Twitter as @rotnroll666, where he deals with Java, music and minor and major problems as a husband and father of two children. In January 2018 Michael’s book “Spring Boot — Moderne Softwareentwicklung im Spring-Ökosystem” will be published by dpunkt.verlag. The book can already be pre-ordered at It covers Spring Boot 2 and the new, reactive programming paradigm of Spring 5 as well as Spring basics and thus appeals to experienced Spring developers as well as new beginners. The diagrams in this article are also from the book, as are some of the examples shown. The code is already available on GitHub.


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Azusa Now: A Tipping Point for the Next Great Awakening

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D. and author of Ignite Azusa: Positioning for a New Jesus Revolution

Can thousands of people gathered together for one purpose shift a generation into the next Great Awakening? What if the date and location of this gathering tapped into one of the deepest wells of revival we’ve experienced over the last century?

On April 9, 2016, which was also the 110th anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival, our generation was inaugurated into a new era. Lou Engle and TheCall, in partnership with Bethel Church in Redding, California, hosted over 60,000 people in an event called Azusa Now. People from all around the world gathered together in the rain at the Los Angeles Coliseum to make the name of Jesus famous once again. The day was filled with worship, prayer, healing, miracles, prophetic acts, and signs and wonders. During the week preceding this event, Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, Circuit Riders, Youth With A Mission, Iris Global, and many other ministries sent out armies of Jesus lovers to flood L.A. with the love and power of God. Deaf ears were opened, people got up out of wheelchairs, many were welcomed into the family of God, and signs and wonders were released.

Because of the prophetic words and impossibilities connected to the Azusa Now story, it is important to pay attention. This was not just another Christian worship event. Deep wells of the Azusa Street Revival (1906), which birthed over half a billion Christians and has spread to nearly every country in the world over the past century, were accessed on Saturday. At Azusa Now, many different streams of Christianity came together in unity for one purpose. Profound reconciliation occurred. Worship filled the stadium. Ripple effects that will impact the world and eternity will result from what was poured out at Azusa Now.

We Walk by Faith Not Sight

Something powerful and profound happened at Azusa Now whether we see and understand it now or not. Many stepped out in great faith to see God’s kingdom come to this generation. If all of this was done and only one person got saved or healed, it would have been worth it. What if that one person will later become the next D.L. Moody or Billy Graham we may never know. However, we do know that many entered into God’s kingdom and many others were restored, healed, and set free that day. We don’t know how many lives these ones will touch in the future but these will be the inheritance of what was poured out at Azusa Now.

In the evening session at Azusa Now, evangelist Daniel Kolenda shared how God marked him at TheCall D.C. over ten years ago. He was impregnated with a hunger and passion to see souls saved. He’s since brought thousands into the kingdom of God. The impact of what was released when he attended TheCall D.C. might not have become visible the next week or even the next year, but something significant happened that later contributed to the momentum of hundreds of thousands being led to the Lord. Whether we see profound results today or in the next ten years from what happened at Azusa Now, we said yes to what God asked of us. That is something to celebrate. We need to trust Him with the results as we continue to dive even deeper into His presence.

Healing on the Streets

When I was doing my Ph.D. on revival history while living in England, I helped my church set up Healing on the Streets in the city square where many youth gathered. We set up chairs in the middle of the square and put up a flag that said Healing. Anyone walking by who wanted prayer would sit in a chair and we would pray for him or her right out in the open. We did this every month and saw many miracles take place: legs grew, depression lifted, cigarettes disappeared, and people even grew taller. However, there’s one story I want to share that will help demonstrate the unseen impact Azusa Now will have in the future.

One time when we were out on the streets, we met a teenager named Ben. He had been hit by a car and his leg was in a cast. He was a rough looking kid but had allowed us to pray for him. As our team laid hands and prayed for him in the middle of the town square, the presence of God fell on him powerfully. However, when he left, he hobbled away, still on crutches with no visible sign of healing. Did we fail? Did we not have enough faith to bring him into his healing? I think not. I believe that every Holy Spirit-led act of faith is something to celebrate. Our job is to obey God. He is in charge of the results.

The next month we went back to the same spot and saw Ben running out to greet us. He shared how a week after we prayed, he was totally healed and even went out jogging!!! We hadn’t seen the effects in the moment we prayed, but God was working behind the scenes. Furthermore, one year after Ben got healed, we were all drinking coffee in a Starbucks and sharing testimonies after our ministry time on the streets. I noticed the Holy Spirit was doing something in Ben so I asked him what was going on. His grandmother had just passed away and he heard her favorite song come on which made him emotional. We prayed for him right there in the Starbucks and he began to weep. Then he said to me, “Jen, I never told you this before but a year ago when you all prayed for me, I had so much anger and rage inside of me that I was going to beat someone up that day. After you all prayed for me, that anger left and I have never been the same.” We found this out one year later!

We don’t always know or see the results of stepping out in faith, worshipping in unity, or doing prophetic acts led by the Spirit, however, in due time, these will surface. Azusa Now may or may not have been what we all imagined. We may have seen incredible miracles and salvations or we may not have seen what we were hoping for. However, something powerful was released either way that will impact generations. We must be content knowing that heaven is celebrating us each and every time we step out in faith to follow the leading of the Spirit. Yes, many people got saved, healed, and delivered which is incredible. However, Azusa Now was just the beginning of more to come.

The Rudder of Our Ship Has Shifted

The prophetic act of thousands of people worshipping together in one place, in one city, and on the anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival synergized and shifted us into a new era. What we did that day is like shifting the direction of a rudder on a large ship. Our generation may or may not recognize the radical change and the momentum that will carry on for generations from now from what was released at Azusa Now. However, even the slightest of changes on a rudder will re-direct the course of that ship. Over time, that ship will arrive at a completely different destination.

We are now going in a new direction, even if ever so slightly. This change will take us to a greater reality than any could ever have hoped, dreamed, or imagined. The New Jesus Revolution has already begun. Sometimes this happens in the smallest of ways. Never underestimate the power of Jesus working even in one small shift, one great decision made, or one person saved. Remember and record what happened in your life on Saturday April 9, 2016 and celebrate each seed of hope that was released. This is only the beginning. These seeds will one day grow and emerge into giants as they are saturated by more of the Holy Spirit.

I close by quoting a song by Bob Dylan. I encourage you to imagine God singing it over you and our generation:

“The storms are raging on the rolling seas

And on the highway of regret

The winds of change are blowing wild and free

You ain’t seen nothing like Me yet

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true

Nothing that I wouldn’t do

Go to the ends of the earth for you

To make you feel My love”

God has already gone to the ends of the earth to make you feel His love when He sent His Son Jesus. I pray that in this new era, your eyes are opened more than ever before to see and to receive a fresh revelation of the Father’s great love. I pray that you become a target for His blessing, favor, and presence. May your heart increase in capacity to be able to receive the great love God is pouring out and to overflow it to others. May you be apprehended by God’s extravagant and unceasing love like never before. Hang on tight, we’re in for the wildest ride of our lives!

*See book Ignite Azusa: Positioning for a New Jesus Revolution by Jennifer A. Miskov with Heidi Baker, Bill Johnson, and Lou Engle to learn more about the Azusa Street Revival and the new move of God in our day.


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I tell my students that if what they want is specific job skills, they should learn how to lay cable or get a Class-2 rating to drive a P-5000 Power Loader. But the specific job skills I teach a freshman or sophomore may be out of date by graduation day.

Rather than teaching students how to use a particular piece of software, I want to teach self-sufficiency and critical thinking; I want to reward self-motivation and problem-solving.

If I were working for a boss who wanted 15 10-page research papers, it would be a heck of a lot easier for me just to write them all myself and collect my paycheck. Or I could do all the planning and write out careful, step-by-step instructions, and hire underlings who are really good at following instructions.

Instead, my job is the much harder task of training people to do this work on their own. So I don’t tell students what to write (or what to think).

Screen Shot 2015-06-13 at 2.44.19 PMLam: So what are employers actually concerned about when it comes to fresh grads?

Cappelli: What they say in the surveys about graduates or young people is that the kids aren’t mature enough. That’s not exactly new. A lot of this goofy generation stuff is really just that, it’s older people looking at younger people saying, “Kids today!”

Lam: What is maturity defined as in this context?

Cappelli: Conscientiousness mainly: Show up on time, work hard, care about what you’re doing, be a self-starter—it’s motivation basically. —The Atlantic


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April 2015: New Book on Early Jesuit Missionaries in Ethiopia

The second volume of Brill’s Jesuit Studies book series is released. According to the publisher, Envoys of a Human God: The Jesuit Mission to Christian Ethiopia, 1557-1632, by Andreu Martínez d’Alòs-Moner, “offers a comprehensive study of the religious mission led by the Society of Jesus in Christian Ethiopia. The mission to Ethiopia was one of the most challenging undertakings carried out by the Catholic Church in early modern times. The book examines the period of early Portuguese contacts with the Ethiopian monarchy, the mission’s main developments and its aftermath, with the expulsion of the Jesuit missionaries. The study profits from both an intense reading of the historical record and the fruits of recent archaeological research. Long-held historiographical assumptions are challenged and the importance of cultural and socio-political factors in the attraction and ultimate estrangement between European Catholics and Ethiopian Christians is highlighted.”

Envoy of a Human God is divided into three parts, which trace the geographical movement of the missionaries, and offers five appendices: Leading Political Figures in the Red Sea, India, and Europe, ca. 1600–1635; National and Provincial Rulers in Christian Ethiopia, 1603–1636; Jesuit Missionaries in Ethiopia, 1555–1632; Intellectual Production during the Mission, 1611–1632; and a Genealogical Chart of the Extended Ethiopian Royal Family (ca. 1550–1640).


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June 2016: Faber Symposium to Cultivate Jesuit Writers

The inaugural Faber Symposium–designed to nurture a new generation of Jesuit writers on the scholarly examination of the original charism of the Society of Jesus–takes place this month in Chicago, Illinois.

What will be an annual event, the Faber Symposium is organized and hosted by Barton Geger, SJ, the new editor of Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits. The symposium features presentations of current works (dissertations, theses, and articles for publication) and feedback provided by gathered experts.

Papers presented will include:

  • Bill Woody, SJ: “The Jesuit Ministry of Reconciliation”
  • Peter Nguyen, SJ: “Cor Jesu and Pope Francis’s Vision of a Merciful Church”
  • Pedro Cameira, SJ: “Psychology of the Spiritual Exercises”
  • Quan Tran, SJ: “Cultural Differences and the Spiritual Exercises”
  • Joe Laramie, SJ: “Liturgical Themes in the Spiritual Exercises”
  • Mark Mossa, SJ: “The Beginnings of Jesuit Ressourcement? Pius XI, Ledochowski, de Guibert and the Jesuit Quadricentenary”
  • Barton Geger, SJ: “Bending the Knee to Baal: St. Ignatius on Jesuit Vocation Promotion.”

For free, searchable access to past issues of Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits, please visit the Jesuit Online Library.

  • Update: The Faber Symposium II will occur in June 2017. A call for papers may be found here.


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School Open Mornings

Our regular Open Mornings are designed to give clear information to prospective parents about Jigsaw and their choices for an appropriate education for their child as well as assist Local Authorities to conclude a referral of an adult client as speedily as possible.

Sessions start with a short presentation and a tour the school followed by a Q&A session.  You will meet Sarah Bryant, our Head of Admissions who will be able to advise you further on the admission process.Please Note:  Open Morning sessions are not suitable for young children as we do not have the staffing levels to provide crèche facilities.

Please contact our Admissions Team directly on 01483 273874 should you wish to receive further information on Jigsaw or attend one of our upcoming Open Mornings, or if you simply want to speak to someone to understand more about when/how/what you might need to start the process.

Upcoming Events


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There’s No Place Like Home

Welcome To Oz Self Development.

Hi there! My name is Michelle McLeod and my mission in this life time is to raise conscious awareness within myself therefore affecting the whole. I endeavour to be the best version of myself at every moment in time. To live, love, learn and forgive shall be my daily practice.

I am a Self Development coach who specialises in helping people find meaning and purpose in their lives. Each program at Oz Self Development is custom fit to client’s individual needs focusing on the process of Self-realisation and personal fulfilment with the view to change from the inside out rather than the out side in. I firmly believe every life has meaning! Why not discover yours?

To find real meaning in life we must first have the right mind set. Why wait until your life is perfect or until you’ve reached your goals to be fulfilled? Why not create a mind set of success now so you can enjoy every day on your way to achieving your goals!

Happiness is a way of being, not a far off destination to be reached at some future date. So why wait? Real change is an inside job. Change your Self and you will change the world you live in!

Modes of Coaching

Using various modes of coaching including face to face, on line video and audio communication, telephone, text and e-mail I  facilitate a Self learning process that will assist you to discover meaning in your life. Together we will work at a pace that is comfortable yet challenging.

I have completed and been certified in various techniques that will assist in this process of change.

These include:

  • Neuro Linguistic Programming at Practitioner, Master and Trainer level.
  • Past Life Therapy Facilitator.
  • Quantum Healing Hypnosis Technique – QHHT Level 1
  • Diploma of Life Coaching with the Australian Institute of Life Coaches.

Self education has played a large part in my life and as well as the above mentioned programs I have attended many non-certificate Self development programs including; Dr John Demartini’s Breakthrough Experience, Profile Accelerator with Dale Beaumont and Difference Maker Accelerator with Authentic Education. I have also been fortunate enough to attend many events over the years run by Hay House and I have attended lectures given by greats such as Louise Hay, Dr Wayne W. Dyer, Gregg Braden, Neal Donald Walsh, Doreen Virtue, Dr Joe Dispenza, Dr Brian Weiss and Caroline Myss, just to name a few.  As well as being very well read in many aspects of Self development  I am currently studying Logotherapy which is meaning based therapy that focuses on the future to help people find meaning and fulfilment in their lives. I therefore have a wide range of knowledge from various different resources, which I can incorporate into my coaching program to ensure it is custom fit to your unique personality and belief system.

Code of Conduct

At Oz Self Development the code of conduct is simple. It is one based on mutual respect. Respect for the process as well as respect for each person as an individual with the right to live their life by their morals and standards without fear of judgement. “Live and let live” is more than just a motto at Oz Self Development, it’s a way of being!

Now is the perfect time to ask yourself “Am I ready to step on to the yellow brick road and experience the wondrous journey of Self discovery?” and if so, who better to assist you than someone who has already taken this journey, which in turn, led to the creation of Oz Self Development.

Find your True Self in Oz!

You can contact me at or by calling 0414659366


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Mitsubishi - FX2NC-16MR-T-DS - PLC

It is now over 30 years since Mitsubishi Electric launched the first compact PLC on the European market. Since then Mitsubishi has become the world market leader in this sector, with over 10 million of its compact controller installations to its credit. Mitsubishi offers a full line of compact PLCs and modular PLCs. Their modular PLC line is a control concept that allows users to mix and select the best combination of CPUs, communication devices, specialist control modules and discreet I/O on a back-plane.

Request a Quote for FX2NC-16MR-T-DS

Mitsubishi - FX-Series - PLC
In Stock Ships Today!

Call 800-479-8084
Email Us: sales@jmjsupply.com

Product Details
  • Part Number: fx2nc-16mr-t-ds (FX2NC16MRTDS)
  • Manufacturer: Mitsubishi
  • Series: FX-Series - PLC
Shipping and Order Information
  • JMJ Supply can usually ship in stock items same day before 3:30 PM EST for no extra cost and before 5 PM with a rush fee
  • Shipping options vary by location. Call for an accurate quote.
  • The FX2NC-16MR-T-DS comes with a 1 year warranty.

JMJ Electric and Supply Company, Inc. sells new surplus and remanufactured products. This website is not sanctioned or approved by any manufacturer or tradename listed. JMJ Electric and Supply is not an authorized distributor or representative for the listed manufacturers. Designated trademarks, brand names and brands appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.


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ARE Services Ltd

ARE Services are a locally owned and operated company, providing professional, qualified and reliable Air Conditioning, Refrigeration, Heat Pumps and Electrical installations, maintenance, repairs and servicing to the Queenstown Lakes area.

ARE Services offer a 24/7 service and supply, install, maintain and repair equipment for both domestic and commercial clients in Queenstown, Wanaka, Alexandra, Cromwell, Arrowtown, Glenorchy and as far as Te Anau.

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Production/ Catering Manager

DR Newitt
Bolton, Greater Manchester
Up to £28K
19 Feb 2018
19 Mar 2018
Business Sector
Food Manufacturing
Contract Type

My client is a well-established Food Manufacturer and a market leader. Now an excellent opportunity arises to join this professional yet friendly outfit...

1.    Plan and schedule production requirements to achieve the maximum efficiencies and optimum utilisation of available plant and equipment to fulfil customer order expectations.
2.    Achieve the agreed standards of product quality ensuring compliance with laid down specifications and through effective control of production procedures.
3.    Maintain the agreed systems and procedures for meeting due diligence, quality assurance and HACCP requirements.
4.    Develop and implement appropriate work procedures for reducing waste to minimal levels.
5.    Monitor and control labour costs through effective labour, holiday planning and scheduling of production requirements.
6.    Monitor and control standards of hygiene and health and safety throughout the shifts to meet legislative requirements of food safety and health and safety.
7.    Train, develop and motivate employees, through development of skill matrices, to undertake current jobs and prepare them for future opportunities and development.
8.    Monitor and control the use of personal protective equipment and ensure that all employees are correctly attired for the business
9.    Nurture all new starters into the business, complete documentation, monitor training and undertake appraisals when necessary.
10.    Identify and prioritise maintenance requirements to minimise disruption to the business form the breakdown of equipment.
11.    Liaise with Factory Manager on shift changeover to ensure that all issues are followed through.
12.    Be aware of current trends in the market and work with retail and the development manager to design and produce products to meet these demands.
13.    Develop product in line with the current project management system and hit deadlines for product launch
14.    Be involved in the training of new product with the staff and be present for all new production runs to ensure quality is achieved.

The right candidate for the role will either have expereince in production or a background as a Chef/Catering Manager.

45 Hours
Working Days

If you are interested in this position then please forward a copy of your most up to date CV to or contact Andrew Donaldson on 0131 226 5060.

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