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.