This was a big year for my blog.  First of all I changed the name from “Retired Pastor Ruminates” to “When I Survey . . .” This better describes the eclectic nature of this blog, and reflects my new belief that I am not retired but merely self-unemployed.

Most of my surveying takes place out the back porch (or back windows in cold weather) and I change the header picture to reflect what it is I see as I look out over the marsh behind my house.

This year I also purchased the domain name “richardlfloyd.com” and made the change from Blogger to WordPress with help from my antipodean friend Jason Goroncy who came to visit in June.  Thanks Jason.

Alas, it took awhile for folks and search engines to find the new site and name and I fell off of most of the blogrolls I was on.  The redirect to the new site only sends you to the home page, so it was harder for people to find specific posts from the past.  Time will take care of this.

One of the highlights of the year was an eight-week series of guest blogs on hope I did for Darkwood Brew, which describes itself as “a renegade exploration of Christian faith for the modern world which blends ancient contemplative practices with cutting-edge interactive web technology, world-class music, arts, biblical scholarship, and special guests from around the globe via Skype.”)  Some of these posts on hope were among the most popular of the year.

So here are the most popular posts of the year:

1. The Future of Newspapers:  The Third Annual Martin Langeveld Interview
2. Chicken Little Theology
3. Meeting an on-line friend in the flesh: My travels with Jason
4. I am not optimistic, but I am hopeful
5. Hope and the Spirit
6. Rejoice! Rejoice!  A Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent
7. Be careful what you write for
8. Reflections on the New Century Hymnal
9. Ruminations on hermeneutics for adult Christian Education
10. Ruminations about the the end of the world on May21: Howard Camping and William Miller

On the all-time list and among the most visited this year are my two cris de coeur on clergy burnout and abuse, The Ministry and its Discontents:  Pastors in Peril, and Ten Highly Effective Strategies for Crushing your Pastor’s Morale.

Thanks for visiting and drop by again from time to time in 2012.