Letter to the Churches of Carbon County and Beyond - Oct 25 2009

Hello folks of Carbon County and beyond. How is life treating you these days? October strikes me as a month of transition from the activities of summer, playing, and warm days to activities of school, homecoming (more like reunions), longer nights, and colder days. It is a funny place to be where we are not in once place and yet we have not completely arrived in the other. Life as a way of carrying us forward, sometimes this happens on our own effort and other times it is done by the effort of God; and there are times when we all work with God. I hope this letter finds you well.

It has been a busy week of travel (more than usual) starting last Monday I drove to Little Snake River Valley (Baggs, Dixon, and Savory) for the Fall Café Bible Study in which the group from St. Paul’s has gathered faithfully for a couple of years to read the bible one book and one chapter at a time. The group likes to cover about 10 chapters every two weeks and they are about ready to wrap-up the book of Job. I also noted with delight that the readings that we hear on Sundays in church for the past couple of weeks have been coming from the book of Job. What timing!

Tuesday was a day to get most of my administrative tasks taken care of and boy was my list long. I did manage to write a chapter report, a contribution to the printed eSpirit about Region 4, and submit an article for St. Thomas’ Livingstones (their monthly news letter). I also set up a web/phone meeting for the Apostolic Teams for both Regions 4 & 5 for this up-coming Monday. That does not include all the other activities such as making phone calls and running about in town.

Wednesday and Thursday I was in Thomas the Apostle Center in Cody for the Ministry Developer’s face to face meeting. We took most of our time together to discuss and discern what we will be doing for the next nine months and beyond. We too are aware of the changing of leadership and the effects it has with the congregations that we work with. We also shared what is taking place both in our professional and personal lives. Meeting in Cody is a blessing.

Friday I caught up on some phone calls and mostly took a half day off. Saturday was another full day with St. Thomas. I met with the Worship Team to plan the services for the month of November and finalize Christmas Eve services. St. Thomas also will be having a baptism at the end of the month because it was a good time for the greater family to participate. At 1pm I was once again at St. Thomas with my girls to help put together “Bundle Blessings” which are bundles of a couple of items that will be given to children who are placed in foster care homes. Following that activity my girls received some Acolyte training. It was a full Saturday.

Sunday I was in Medicine Bow to preside and to facilitate a discussion of Wade in the Water following the service. One of the members of the church really wanted to host a lunch at her house and so after the conclusion of the service we re-assembled at Lillian’s house, had lunch and watched Wade in the Water that talked about moving the furniture. It was a good time to check in and fellowship.

The up-coming week looks like this – Monday I will be in Laramie to work on my personal project and be back in Rawlins in time for the joint Apostolic Team meeting for Regions 4 & 5 that starts at six pm. Tuesday I will be in Saratoga to help with a preaching discernment process. Wednesday my day starts with a web/phone meeting with the Ministry Developers at 8am then I will be hosting office hours at Kraft Hall from 10am to 12pm. That evening starting at 5:30pm I will be on a web/phone meeting with the Regional Reps and Ministry Developers for an hour and then getting on another web/phone meeting with the Evangelism team starting at 7pm. Thursday I will be meeting with Karen Buckingham to review where she is on the check list for those in process for the priesthood with another meeting with Karen to debrief from her first retreat where she is learning about Family Systems. Friday I will be on the road to Denver (kind of a day off). Saturday is Halloween and I hope everybody gets a treat! Sunday I will be at St. Paul’s in Dixon to preside with at Ministry Support Team meeting following the service.