Weekly Letter to the Churches of Carbon County and Beyond - Jan 4 2010

January 4, 2010

I was asked a question during the service at St. Paul’s in Dixon about how to refer to this year calendar date. Is it twenty ten or two thousand and ten? I really don’t know. Twenty ten sounds contemporary but two thousand and ten sounds traditional (i.e. we said two thousand and nine last year). Well in both cases what we have is a beginning of a new decade. That is hard to imagine. We (the Diocese) opens this year with a large change on the horizon and will have a better picture of what will happen by the end of the first three months with the election of the next Bishop of Wyoming. What a way to start the decade.

Also it seems that this Christmas and New Year holiday was shorten. I was talking to my brother, who is a teacher, about this while I was in Colorado Springs. We concluded that the reason the Christmas break was short was because Christmas was later in the week and so most of us kept to our usual activities before taking a break for the holidays. So with that in mind (the quick break) let’s move on to the business of the Church and Ministry Development in Region 4.

My vacation plans got “flipped” as I was planning on going to Wheatland first and then to Colorado Springs. However, due to weather concerns I remained in Rawlins for an extra two days and started my vacation in Colorado Springs and then went to Wheatland. I wonder if that is what to expect in 2010? Well more to the point, I arrived in Dixon to preside at St. Paul’s for their Christmas Eve services and the church was full. I believe there was close to fifty people in attendance. We quickly asked a younger and eager child to light the candles and assist in handing out the individual candles for the singing of Silent Night. It was nice to see the church in the warm glow of candle light during the song. Later that evening I was presiding in Rawlins at St. Thomas and again there was a large crowd with familiar faces and families and sticking to the tradition of singing Silent Night to candle light the members of St. Thomas sang the well known Christmas song.

The following week was pretty quiet as I received reports that people are getting ready for the annual meetings that take place during this time of year. I enjoyed some time with family as drove throughout the state dropping and picking up kids. So there is not much to report on that front. However, due to the slowdown in activity I was able to think more intentionally about my goals for 2010. There are so many different choices to make when it comes to continued professional development! I am not completely sure what I will be doing for the coming year; however I will be attending a workshop in February around stewardship and worked on wrapping up the details to attend that event. I am sure the upcoming year will provide opportunities of discernment and discovery.

Yesterday (Sunday) I drove to St. Paul’s in Dixon and enjoyed the drive. The weather was nice, the roads were dry, and the views were wonderful. I arrived to find the sidewalk and the entrance to the church covered with snow. As I “plowed” through the snow I watched members of St. Paul work through the snow and noted that the possibility of people slipping and falling was real. So, I spent the first ½ hour shoveling snow off the sidewalk back into the street to clear the path. There was a gentleman from across the street that saw my efforts and came over with his snow blower and assisted me in my effort. Task accomplished and we gather to worship in a timely fashion.

The coming week looks like this: Monday I will be attending a Gospel Study at St. Thomas and working through a “large” to do list. Tuesday I have planned to wrap up my activities from Monday, to make a couple of phone calls to check in throughout the region and that evening host a web/phone meeting with those who are involved in the Wyoming Wilderness Camp. Wednesday is the typical full day with a web/phone meeting starting at 8am and office hours at Kraft Hall from 10am to 12pm. Thursday I will be working on administrative items and perhaps be writing a sermon and that evening attending a Ministry Support Team at St. Thomas. Saturday I will be attending a worship breakfast at St. Thomas. Sunday I will be presiding at St. Thomas and the service starts at 9:30am. Enjoy welcoming in the New Year!