Letters to the Churches of Carbon County

Ok folks it is time to gather around the table to have our weekly check in chat and to share what is taking place throughout Region 4 (Encampment, Dixon, Medicine Bow, and Rawlins) and to briefly check in from Fort Bridger and Green River. It has been a joyous week as Karen Buckingham was welcomed into the priesthood on Saturday with representatives from Casper, Laramie, Cheyenne, Lander, Standing Committee, Hudson, Encampment, Saratoga, Dixon, Evanston, and Rawlins. I am sure I am missing a community or two and please forgive me! As the month of January draws to a close the month of February opens up and it is promising to be a month full of activities and exciting events as the Church draws the season of Epiphany to an end and begins Lent. I hope this letter finds you well.

Before I get on to the news of the week, how about seeing a list of who is currently or have blogged throughout the Diocese of Wyoming? They are:

Marilyn Engenstrom http://www.marengstrom.blogspot.com

Kathy Robinson http://storieswithkathy.blogspot.com/

Andrew Kerr http://kerrepiscopalwy.blogspot.com/

Margaret Babcock http://margaretinwyoming.blogspot.com/

Ann Fontaine http://seashellseller.blogspot.com

I am sure they are more; however, check those out when you can it could provide a richer view of the diversity of our wonder state.

St. Paul – Last Monday I spend most of my Monday in the Little Snake River Valley. I was able to catch up with a member of St. Paul for lunch and for a getting to know one another a bit better. We discussed what is taking place in the church and discovered that they are some exciting things going on. We also had a chance to clear up some questions about how the Episcopal Church works and discernment. From there I arrived just in time for the Winter Bible Café Psalms reflection activity to enjoy the wonderful dessert. It was nice to see St. Paul being represented at Karen’s ordination on Saturday. They had to get up early in the morning to make it in time for the 9am service. Great work!

St. Luke’s – There is not much to report from St. Luke’s in Medicine Bow. I did receive a copy of the annual meeting minutes and they have delegates elected for the electing convention as well as the annual Diocesan Convention in 2010. It is a quite time for St. Luke as we prepare for the spring and summer activities.

St. James – I received a phone call on Monday requesting that we move our lunch date to this week. No problem. I heard that they met with a contractor to discuss floor plans last Monday for a parish hall addition along with up-grades to the church building itself. This Wednesday we will catch up over lunch and discuss the bishop walkabout and granting writing.

St. Thomas – This past Saturday was the big event for Rawlins. St. Thomas after working on their formation process for the past seven years had reached an important milestone in their congregational life. The ordination of Karen Buckingham was a celebration of their hard work. There were about 80 people in attendance and that was quiet remarkable considering the service started at 9am! People ask me now that a local priest in place does that help me? My response is not really, but what is really important is that St. Thomas now has more resources for their ministry and they will receive the sacraments with more consistency. In turn this helps everybody as we continue to equip the laborers for the work of God’s mission to the world.

Ministry Developers – I have been in conversation with Andy Kerr and we are putting together a Ministry Developer technology tool kit. It will include a computer, camera, and a projector. My target is to share this with the ministry developers in Feb for their input. Wednesday we had our weekly check in call in which we discussed a report from the COM about upcoming ordinations and up-date on the preaching licensing; Latino Ministry Workshop; Up-date on compressed video conferencing sites; along with general check in. Wednesday evening the ministry developers along with the Regional reps met on WebEx to check in around the video conferencing sites, Safe Guarding God’s Children Training and to learn more about the walkabout.

What is on deck for this week? PLENTY! It is going to be short week for me in Wyoming as I prepare to attend a workshop in Living Stones that will be hosted in Des Moines Iowa. I will be out the state from Thursday to Saturday. This Monday I will be leading two sessions of Wade in the Water in Dixon with the first session starting at 2:30 and the second session starting at 5:30pm. Wednesday I will be on my weekly call checking in with my fellow Ministry Developers, setting in on a WebEx Meeting for Latino Ministry Workshop, and Evangelism meeting that evening. Then it is off to Des Moines for the remainder of the week. On Sunday I will be presiding at St. Paul’s at 10:30 am and then participating in their annual meeting following the service.