Letters to the Churches of Carbony County and Beyond - Sept 27 2009

September 27, 2009

This is the last Sunday of September 2009 and it was a beautiful weekend. It was a good time to be out and about in the great outdoors of Wyoming. Talking about being out and about this is what is taking place throughout Carbon County: St. Thomas was getting ready for a bishop’s visit, but they need to change their plans; St. Paul had their annual Wyoming trip and from all reports they had a great time in the northern part of the state; St. Luke’s had a full church this Sunday with three kids running about; St. James is getting for a family gathering to do some work on a house. I hope this letter finds you well.

Last Monday I worked on some administrative items and caught up with the Ministry Support Team for St. Thomas. They have been working hard this year on various development projects and is taking some time to catch their breath. There was some clearing of the air, reconnecting, and planning on how to handle the music during the worship. Tuesday was another day of phone calls, and reading. Wednesday was a full day of web/phone meeting. The Ministry Developers have realized that we need to work with the basics again like having relational meetings and to connect with people again to find out what passions that are waiting to be energized. We also talked about Convention what we need to do to prepare for that upcoming event. Finally we talked about some administrative items like Family Systems, on-line Ethics course of the all important calendar. Wednesday evening was another web/phone meeting with the Regional Reps in which we celebrated having Safeguarding God’s Children training in each of the six regions in the state. Outstanding work!

Friday afternoon I drove over to Wheatland and had dinner with Ray Grieb to discus Wade in the Water. He will be assisting me with this work in Encampment. The next morning I attended Raising Up Your Congregation workshop. It was good to return “home” for the day and to learn more about expectations of vestries and the changing legal environment that we now live in. However, one of the wonderful discoveries of the day was Andy’s presentation with the emerging technologies. Andy is a strong critic of technology and is always asking questions as to what is the purpose of using the latest thing. He gave us some useful information about how to set up web-sites, blogging, Facebook, and twitter.

Sunday I arrived in St. Luke’s in Medicine Bow to listen to a presentation about what it will take to start a pre-school. The presentation was well done and the person did some good research. This might become a good Mustard Seed Project for that community. As we wrapped up a young family arrived from Hanna. It was a family that I married and baptized their two children. What a gift to offer to the church members of Wyoming different choices to worship.

The upcoming week looks like this – Monday I will be heading to St. Paul’s for their Fall Bible Café and there is a chance that I will catch up with Linda to practice the case study presentation and there is always Tuesday. Talking about Tuesday I will be heading to Saratoga to listen and continue the discernment process for Ralph Hick’s preaching ministry @ 4pm. Wednesday I am planning on doing some continuing education and preparation for Convention. Thursday through Sunday I will be in Casper for the Convention.

Letters to the Churches of Carbon County - Sept 21, 2009

I awoke this morning to see snow. Granted it was limited to parts of a very green lawn, but it is an indication that fall is right around the corner. It also means that we are entering a period of “crazy weather” in which there will be beautiful and perfect days followed by cold, windy, and overcast moments. I do love the shifting of weather. It seems that the churches also has its own seasons of change and so let us look at the weather channel for the church season for the past week and see what has happened. I hope this letter finds you well.

Last Monday the church “weather” called for a Worship planning session at St. Thomas in Rawlins. There we planned out the church services for the month of October, and had an opening discussion about H1N1 Flu prevention measures. It was by Thursday that St. Thomas was informed that Bishop Stickland is schedule for a visit in the month of October so there will be a slight change in the line up. All shall be well because it is St. Thomas that we are talking about. (smile, smile). As the meeting was wrapping up the group did a quick evaluation of the meeting and were pleased with the progress.

Tuesday the weather called for Safeguarding God’s Children training in Baggs (the Little Snake River Valley) from 5pm to 8:30pm. And the training went well. In attendance were two teachers from the local pre-school, a youth minister from the Community Church, and St. Paul’s ARK (Amazing River Kids) sponsors for a brush up course. The training went well and the food was outstanding!

Wednesday the weather called for an organizational meeting in Green River. St. John’s is looking at an effective way of including the entire congregation on Sunday into Wade in the Water. Wade in the Water is a 6 sessions program and it leads us to explore how baptismal theology and practice have changed through history with the final session ends with a discussion and thoughts on how to apply our new understanding in the local context of the local church. The segments are: A short history of Baptism, Thinking about who God is, Thinking about who we are in relation to God, Differing perspectives on the Church, Changes in a small church, and Focusing on your work in the world. I have really enjoyed the creativity around making this a reality.

Thursday the weather blew me into St. Thomas undercroft for a vestry meeting. During our time together we reviewed a brief history on how St. Thomas arrived to the decision to enter Shared Ministry, talked about discernment issues, clarifying the role of the Ministry Support Team, and was presented with a wonderful idea for the Mustard Seed Money. Keep an eye out for the clouds that have been planted by this group, a storm of the Holy Spirit is brewing on the horizon.

Saturday the weather provided the opportunity for me to be a passenger as I rode along with members of St. Thomas to the Region 4 Apostolic Team face to face meeting in Saratoga. We had the privilege of having Kathy and Roy lead us through the workshop and Linda Fleming started the “business” part of the meeting with a reflection using what we had learned. That was nice.

Sunday I again was seeing different weather patterns as I presided in two different locations. My day started with Encampment in which we all laughed at the “grumbling” tone of the assigned readings and decided that having Fred read the Proverbs could have gotten booted out of a ride home. All was well and I headed home. That afternoon I caught-up with Linda in St. Paul’s in Dixon and started to get prepared for the Case Study for the Convention and following the service had a short Ministry Support Team Meeting following the service.

The forecast looks like this – starting on Tuesday I will be making phone calls, checking in with other Ministry Developers and seeing about who is interested in attending the RAISING UP YOUR CONGREGATION workshop in Wheatland on Saturday (September 26, 2009). Wednesday the “weather” calls for web/phone meeting in which the Ministry Developers will be meeting all day with a final web/phone meeting that evening with the Regional Reps. Thursday is a planned day off (we will see if I am successful). Friday could be a possible travel day if people have worked out their own way to Wheatland. If so, I am planning on meeting with Ray Greib to review Wade in the Water with him. Saturday is a sunny day of learning in Wheatland re: RASING UP YOUR CONGREGATION workshop. Sunday will be another sunny day as I arrive in Medicine Bow to hear a report of the possibility of a preschool being started with St. Luke sponsoring it, presiding at the worship, and following the service to have another Wade in the Water session.

Letters to the Churches of Carbon County and Beyond - Sept 13 2009

It was a slow week getting started and by the time I hit Friday I was flying and next week I will really be flying because I will have managed to be in “sharing the same air” with four different churches. That is really getting out there. Sure I like the pace from time to time; however it is not one that I can keep up for long periods of time before I start losing my focus. Looking around the County it is looking like this – St. Thomas was a burial tour in which two funeral services were held and both of them with both similar and yet different; St. Paul had their Fall Café Bible reflection last week and now they will be doing extracurricular activities during the later half of September; I am looking forward to catching up with St. James in Encampment and starting the first of six sessions of Wade in the Water this up-coming Sunday; and St. Luke’s in Medicine Bow had their Bishop visit this Sunday and I am looking forward to hearing how that went. I hope this letter finds you well.

Don’t you like those three day weekends? It seems like on Tuesday we have to do 48 hours worth of work in 24. That was my Tuesday and yet I managed to reach most of my objectives for the day. It started with a planning session with Gerry O’Connell from St. Thomas in Rawlins. We gathered with Randy Golden who is local pastor of Cavalry Chapel in Rawlins who was a good friend of Doris Walden (Gerry’s mother-in-law) to plan Doris funeral. It was a joint effort and it when well. Then I jumped in my borrowed car and drove to LSRV to participate in St. Paul’s Fall Bible Café to realize upon my arrival that my time would have to be short because I had to drive over the mountain to meet with a preaching discernment group in Saratoga. In the middle of all that traveling I still managed to wrestle with insurance companies, send out notices about an up-coming vestry workshop, and inform Medicine Bow about their up-coming Bishop visit. See 48 hours worth of work being crammed into 24.

Wednesday I kept the momentum going. It started with the weekly web/phone meeting with the Ministry Developers in which we discussed two events that are coming up at the Convention, an opportunity to learn more about Latino Ministries, and yes general check in with one another. Made phone calls with fellow Ministry Developers and put together a couple of church services, wrote a couple of reports, and squeezed in a sermon. I did all before bed that night.

Thursday I spent two hours at Kraft Hall making phone calls throughout the county inviting others to the Apostolic Team face to face meeting that is coming up this Saturday. I wrote a second sermon and was all ready and prepared to head to Green Rive to continue with the next step with Wade in the Water when I receive a phone call telling me that most of the people in Green River are out and about and would not be around that evening. So we rescheduled for this upcoming Wednesday.

Friday was the first of two funeral services. Anna May Rassuseen was place in her final resting place in Rawlins. The gathered family had a time to bring close a chapter in their lives. It was also a good time to brush off the skills of hospitality at St. Thomas and learn what it means to have a deacon as a member of the worship leadership. The service went really well and the family had their chance to say their final good-byes. I still managed to attend the local high school football game that evening and so it was nice to have some time with the family.

Saturday was the second of two funerals in which the gathered family got to say good-by to Doris Mae Walden. Doris is the mother of Ellen O’Connell and Gerry’s mother-in-law. She spent her final days in the O’Connell’s home and so she was able to be surrounded by love ones till the end as she crossed over to another reality. Randy Golden preached and St. Thomas provided the wonderful liturgy for the family to find closure in that important chapter of their lives. Gerry was the leader of the Committal in Saratoga that afternoon and it seemed that everybody was pleased on how Gerry was able to bring together three different church families to celebrate the life of Doris and to recognize the gift of eternal life from God.

So Sunday was a continuation of all the resurrection celebrations that were taking place leading up that day. As St. Thomas continues to move forward in Shared Ministry we all are learning about what it means to have a deacon as a member of the worship team. As the worship leaders led the service I discovered a fine sing voice and it was a blessing.

This is what my up-coming week looks like – Monday the worship team of St. Thomas will meet to schedule the month of October services and discuss some recommendations from the Diocese on how to respond to the flu season. Tuesday I am heading to Baggs to co-host a Safeguarding God’s Children training and that starts at 5pm. Wednesday I will be participating in a web/phone meeting with the Ministry Developers at 8am and that evening I will be in Green River to help plan the next steps in Wade in the Water. Thursday I will be having office hours at Kraft Hall during that time Karen and I will have some check in time. Thursday evening will be attending a vestry meeting at St. Thomas in Rawlins. Friday is an all day event in Laramie in which I am working on a personal project and continuing to look for a permanent vehicle for work. Saturday is Region’s 4 Apostolic Team face to face meeting in which Kathy Robinson and Roy Walworth will be hosting an Evangelism Workshop. Right when you thought I was done for the week I will be presiding in two different churches starting at St. James in Encampment with Wade in the Water session 1 starting after the service. Then I will preside at St. Paul’s in Dixon that evening.

Be well my friends and have a great week!

Doug

Letters to the Churches of Carbon County - Sep 7 2009

September 7, 2009

I hope everybody is resting from their labors. For some resting means catching up on other miscellaneous projects that need to be completed before the fall activities begin and still others is a chance to head out to capture some more time in the great outdoors. For me I am waiting for Kellie and the girls to return from Wheatland and this gives me a chance to inform others the past week events. I hope this letter finds you well.

Last Monday I was a part of joint web/phone meeting between Region’s 4 and 5. The meeting was productive in that the gathered group learned more about how to use the technology and we were able to communicate information about Mustard Seed Projects, the bishop’s search, and other various items around communication terms. We will continue to work on how this can develop in our future.

Tuesday I plowed through administrative tasks. I wrote a letter to the COM about Ralph Hick’s preaching discernment (Ralph is from Saratoga), made phone calls and talked to different people throughout the State. Wednesday I was on the weekly web/phone meeting with the Ministry Developers and we talked about preparation for the up-coming Ethics Course, Diocesan Convention, Family Systems retreat, and Evangelism. Kay Rhode would like to pass on the word that if any kids who are interested in attending this year’s Convention first find a chaperone and then contact Kay at the office. There are funds available to pay for rooms for that weekend. Thursday I met with Gerry and Shirley from St. Thomas to plan a couple of funerals that are coming up this week. Friday I spend most of the day hanging out with Pat Walsh in Laramie as I waited for Kellie to arrive to test drive a possible replacement vehicle for work.

All in all it was a quite week. As for Sunday I met with Warren and Sue as we traveled together to St. Paul’s in Dixon. Warren is getting out throughout the Diocese to teach others the Diaconate Ministries and we were able to schedule a Sunday in which we can serve together. I really like working with Deacons both on Sunday’s and throughout the week. There is something important that takes place when different offices work together to transform the world. After we finished up at St. Paul’s Warren, Sue and I drove over Battle Mountain Pass into Encampment and then back to Rawlins to drop me off. Warren now has seen most of Carbon County which is different from what he has seen in different parts of the state.

This is what the remainder of the week looks like – Tuesday I will meet with Randy Goldman at Kraft Hall to plan a funeral service this upcoming Sunday. Then I will head to LSRV for the Fall Bible Café, drive over Battle Mountain to meet with Ralph Hick’s preaching discernment group in Saratoga. Wednesday is the weekly web/phone check in with the Ministry Developers and Thursday I am planning on being at Kraft Hall for office hours. Friday will be the begging of a couple of churches services starting with a funeral at St. Thomas @ 1pm. Then on Saturday I will be assisting with another funeral at St. Thomas @ 11am. Sunday I will be presiding at St. Thomas and that service starts @ 9:30am.

Be well my friends.

Doug