Letters to the Churches of Carbon County - August 10, 2009

Hello folks of Carbon County and beyond. I hope this month of August is treating you well. For those who live in Carbon County they can breathe a sigh of relief now that fair week is in the books. Kellie was talking to Reba from Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) and she has faithfully attended the County Fair for close to 60 years! I once read a quote from a person at the fair, “I live in Carbon County and I find my friends at the Fair.” It was a good time for all. St. James in Encampment is busy playing and I spoke to Roxan last week and she is engaged with fair activities; St. Thomas (Rawlins) is plugging along and from what I can gather enjoying the month of August; St. Paul continues to read the bible on book at a time; St. Luke is also enjoying their August summer month. With the conclusion of fair days it is a sign that summer is coming to a close and early fall is right around the corner. I hope this letter finds you well.

Last Monday I was privileged to spend an important hour with the folks of St. Thomas (Rawlins) for sermon preparation. I am now meeting with this group on the Monday before I am scheduled to preach to “check in” with the church and to discern with others about how God is calling St. Thomas to be the church in the world.

Our reflection time has a structure that has a gathering prayer, guiding principles, reflection on the Gospel, prayers of the people, Apostle’s creed, the Lord’s prayer, and wrapped up with a rule of life for the group. I also called the senior warden for the month at St. Thomas to start a conversation for a COM grant request from Karen Buckingham. I also got together with Andy Kerr of the Diocesan staff to become more familiar with WebEx. Kathy Robinson also called and we discussed her work with Evangelism.

Tuesday was a lighter day. I made a couple of phone calls and overall worked with helping Kellie prepare for fair. Wednesday was my web/phone conference day. It started with the Ministry Developers weekly check in call and we spent a bit more time this week learning about WebEx. We didn’t spend all our time playing around and learning this new platform. The Ministry Developers also discussed up-coming on-line Ethics Course that will be presented as a joint effort from EDS and the Diocese of Wyoming this fall. We also reviewed our scenario training. That evening I was a conference call (no web) with the Evangelism team and we discussed our work as a group. The Evangelism work is about how to do a theological reflection that expands our vision of God’s work in the world and in doing so we find connecting points with God’s work. Check out this web-site to learn more: http://wyoevangelism.ning.com/

Thursday I drove over to St. John’s (Green River) for another session of Wade in the Water. I am discovering some wonderful gifts about that church. They have a positive history of dealing with changes to their worship space and are open for more changes. They also have a good working model on how two different Christian Faith communities can share one space with harmony. Good stuff going on at St Johns. Also the group has met faithfully through the summer and that is no small feat!

Friday was a day of administrative work and not much to report in this posting. However, I have been working with Pat with the Wyoming Wilderness Camp this year and they have started a blog. It has been up-dated and worth checking out: http://www.wyomingwilderness2009.blogspot.com/

Saturday was the pre-convention meeting for the Diocese. Region 4 met in Laramie and was connected throughout the Diocese by compressed video. The bishop made a brief statement about the state of the Diocese and his experiences as he travels throughout Wyoming. The budget was discussed and a resolution was proposed about Safeguarding God’s Children training.

Sunday I was at St. Thomas to preside. There was a new family in attendance that Sunday and she seemed like she enjoyed the service. There also been a family coming from Wamsutter with their new born child who seems only happy in her father’s arms. There was a brief vestry meeting to sign a letter of support for Karen Buckingham’s grant request from the COM and some more discussion about the Mustard Seed Money’s. I can say that the Mustard Seed Project is doing its job people are talking about mission.

This week looks like this: Monday I am headed to St. Paul’s (Dixon aka LSRV) for the summer café bible reflection. Tuesday I am heading to Saratoga to begin talking about how to license a local preacher. Wednesday is the weekly web/phone meeting with the Ministry Developers and that evening the Regional Reps and the Ministry Developers will also have a web/phone conference. Thursday it is looking like I will be having office hours at Kraft Hall (Rawlins). Sunday I will presiding at two services starting at St. James (Encampment) @ 9am and that evening I will be at St. Paul’s (Dixon) @ 5pm.

Be well my friends!

Doug