Letters to the Churches of Carbon County and Beyond

Before I move onto the news of the week, at the State Convention of 2009 there has been a resolution passed asking that the leadership of the Diocese seek ways to fund Wyoming Wilderness Camp also known as HR Wilderness Camp. The Camp itself is in a middle of a fund-raising event and is asking for people to make a ONE TIME donation of $20 but NO MORE than $50. More to the point this fundraiser is a process to increase more support for the camp through broader participation. Rather than having one or two large givers it would be beneficial to have many smaller givers contributing to this wonderful ministry. You can send your donation to 123 Durbin Street, Casper WY 82601 and write Wyoming Wilderness Camp in the memo. Thank you for your prayerful consideration in this matter. If you would like to read more about the camp you could go to this web-site www.hrcampfoundation.org.

November 16, 2009

Good morning fine folks of Carbon County and Beyond. I trust that your week went well and I am taking this time to catch you up on what has happened throughout Carbon County. A quick run down of the area looks like this, St. Thomas is doing well and has an administrative week lined up; St. Paul’s is in the midst of preparing for Wade in the Water; St. James is getting ready for the holiday season (Thanksgiving and Christmas); St. Luke is finishing up Wade in the Water; I hope this letter finds you well.

Last Monday I headed over to Laramie to work on my professional development and also was able to have quick pastoral visit. A member of St. Thomas (Rawlins) was involved in a rollover on the interstate a couple of weeks ago. He is recovering and by the grace of God was not seriously injured (if you consider broken ribs not serious). His spirits remain high and he has a great prayer support system in place.

Tuesday I participated in a web/phone meeting with the clergy of Region 5 to plan church services for the next three months. The meeting when really well and the quote of the day was, “We desire a developer not a presider.” This means that the Ministry Developer is now freed up to focus more effort in developing ministries rather than providing supply Eucharistic services. A great sign of growth!

On Wednesday I was a web/phone meeting with the Ministry Developers as we work on putting together a Ministry Review using the Baptismal Covenant to guide our work. We are currently working on the second promise which is about sin and repentance. Now that is a difficult subject to address, yet I think we have a process that helps congregations and individuals look at this par of their lives without being threatened or hit with a heavy guilt trip. We will continue to work on putting together this Ministry Review in the coming weeks.

Thursday was more or less an administrative day for me. I worked on writing a couple of reports for the COM and that afternoon I headed to Saratoga for a preaching discernment meeting. The folks of Saratoga have been working hard with a member of that congregation to discern a preaching call. As a part of the process they too are assisting me along with the COM as we look at the preaching licensing process. The reflection questions are getting better and so is the feedback from this group. Ralph Hicks, the person who is discerning, will be heading to Texas for the winter months and will be returning in the spring of 2010 to complete the discerning process.

Friday I continued to read another chapter in the book Leaders Who Last: Sustaining Yourself and Your Ministry. Starting to write my sermon for the up-coming Sunday and touch base with Linda Fleming as we prepare for the Apostolic Team Meeting for Region 4 on November 21, 2009 in Laramie.

Sunday was a full day. It started at St. James in Encampment. We all gathered a brief discussion about Christmas and determined that everybody will be gone for the season and so there was no need to have services on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. We also decided that it would be beneficial to start Wade in the Water at the first of year. That afternoon I drove to St. Paul’s in Dixon and my two oldest girls accompanied me. I met with Linda Fleming early and so we reviewed the case study that will be presented at the Apostolic Team meeting this upcoming Saturday (21^st). Before Linda Fleming arrived I briefly looked over the church registry and noticed that slowly the attendance has increased over the years and again another sign of the sustainability of Shared Ministry. St. Paul will begin Wade in the Water on November 23, 2009 and have two presentations with the first one starting at 2pm and a 2^nd group meeting at 6pm.

The remainder of the week looks like this: Monday I head to Hudson to meeting with Linda Wilson (Ministry Developer for Regions 5 & 6) and together will work on putting together some goals for our shared work. Tuesday I will be on a web/phone meeting with the Regional Reps. Wednesday is an all day web/phone meeting with the Ministry Developers. Thursday I will be meeting with the Ministry Support Team of St. Thomas and the vestry in Rawlins. Saturday is the Apostolic Team meeting for Region 4 in which we will have a case study; Norm Peterson will explain where we are in the process in the election of the next bishop of Wyoming and some general sharing. Sunday I will be heading to St. Luke’s in Medicine Bow to preside and conclude the Wade in the Water program. That evening there is a Community Thanksgiving Service in Rawlins.