Letters to the Churches of Carbon County and Beyond

May 24, 2010

Pentecost! It is the birthday of the church. It is also an important event that reminds the church that we now represent and are the change agents in the world. This is done with the prompting of the Holy Spirit which the direction is often elusive. I say this because in all my efforts to nail life down has, in most cases, changed. Summer is approaching and I am confident and at peace with the arrival of this church and yearly seasonal transition from one state of being to another. Yesterday I was once again reminded the gift of smaller churches. That gift is consistency and unwavering faith. As I arrived in Medicine Bow I was certain that I would not be alone. I also like the blend of formality and informality of such gatherings. For me it is quiet refreshing to meet with people and to gather around a common faith and event. I hope that feeling and thoughts never get old. I hope this letter finds you well.

St. Luke (Medicine Bow): Yesterday was one of those beautiful days of Wyoming when I arrived in Medicine Bow. Arlen and I have spoken a couple of weeks ago and given all that was taking place in his life we decided that I was going to preach and he was going to put together the service and lead where he can. I asked him how he was holding up with all his travels and he said, “It is not the drive there, but the trip back that makes it long.” Well said! As we began the service, a long time member of the church had returned from being gone for most of the winter. In some ways Sunday had a family reunion feel as we caught up on upcoming plans for the summer and got an up-date on the pre-school status. The pre-school is the Mustard Seed Project for this church and right now they (the leadership that is leading this effort that includes other members of the local community) are working on applying for a 501 (c) 3 status to move forward and be able to receive monies to continue their operation. This group is still determined to see this through in-spite of setbacks and obstacles that are encountered from time to time.

St. Paul’s (Dixon): Last Monday I drove to the Weber Ranch for the bi-monthly Spring Bible Café. This group is about wrapped up with the Psalms. One other major exciting event was that I got to tour a brand new house that was built recently by the local talent. It was a good looking house. I like the open space (perhaps that is why I love Wyoming so much) and the warmth of the floor plan. As I read the Psalms I was laughing to myself as I thought about this – the Psalmist loves God’s Law, do I love our local, county, state and national laws? That put things in a different perspective. During our time together I brought up the idea about a house blessing and I will wait and see where that thought leads.

St. James (Encampment): Not much to report on this week. (Rev) Jess Smith presided there yesterday. Calling and talking to those fine folks is on my list of things to do this week. I understand that they have three and possibility a forth kid attending Wyoming Wilderness Camp this year. What an increase of participation in this wonderful resource that we have in our Diocese. Good work people of Encampment!

St. Thomas (Rawlins): Karen and I have been in conversation last week as she works on assisting on planning confirmation this year. There was a request for the Bishop Elect John Smylie to come and preside at a local confirmation and I am pleased to say that one has been scheduled for February 13, 2011 in Rawlins. Karen told me that this group of five is really excited this event.

Ministry Developers: The Regional Reps and Ministry Developers met through WebEx last Monday to discuss a couple of events. One was a reporting back from the Council Meeting. The Council is putting together the budget for 2011 and it is desired to get as close as possible income and expenses and there is a new budgeting process in which different groups can submit their proposal to the Finance Committee. Then people will be invited different times to explain the request. During our meeting it was shared who will be the preacher for the installment and concretion of (Rev) John Smylie and the key note speaker for the Diocesan Convention in 2010. We also hear about some of the ongoing Mustard Seed Projects that are going on throughout the state. Another piece of business was a quick review of the regional confirmation schedule and for Region 4 it will be held at St. Christopher’s in Cheyenne on June 19, 2010 @ 10:30am.

On Saturday I was one of three presenters on Safeguarding God’s People. I realized later there may be some misunderstanding of this presentation with Safeguarding God’s Children and the key to unlock this mystery is the last word. Children is prevention of sexual abuse in minors and People address harassment and exploitation with adults. There were 13 people from throughout the state who attending the training and I say it was a successful event that used the compressed video network. I am sure more training will be available in the coming fall.

Coming up: This Monday I am hanging closer to the home office as I write this letter and address other administrative tasks. Tuesday I am planning on writing my sermon for Memorial Day in Savory Wyoming. Wednesday I will start my day with a WebEx meeting with the Ministry Developers, head over to Kraft Hall in the afternoon and finish my day with a counseling session with Jason and Nicki as they prepare for their wedding in August. While I am at Kraft Hall Karen and I will plan for some training for her to lead pre-marriage counseling if the need should arise. Sunday I will be heading to St. Paul’s (Dixon) for an abbreviated service at the church and then catch-up with the community of Little Snake River Valley for the annual Memorial Day gathering at the cemetery followed by the valley wide hamburger fry! Now that is the way to kick of the summer!

As we approach Memorial Day let us not forget those who sacrificed their bodies and minds in the service in our military. To serve in this capacity takes great courage and support from all of us at the home front; these women and men of the arm forces are continuously in my prayers and thoughts.

Have a great week!

Letters to the Churches of Carbon County and Beyond

It is truly amazing how well prepared plans get changed at a moment’s notice. This past week was one of those kinds of weeks. Somehow and some way I was able to accomplish must of what I wanted to get done, however it took some adjustments on the fly. It is starting to feel like spring which means at my weeks are quickly filling up with activities with the girls as their fall/winter activities draw to a close and summer activities are getting planned. This is the same with the churches. People are getting ready for the summer months which are most often filled with travel and other leisure activities. For the next couple of weeks it would be a good time to plan lightly and prepare for a major event in July the installment of the Bishop Elect John Smylie. I hope this letter finds you well.

St. Paul’s (Dixon): I caught up with the fine folks of Little Snake River Valley aka LRSV today (May 16) at church. The day was perfect for traveling as the day was crisp and clear. The cows were not on the road (a good thing considering this is the time of year for them to be moved around). I arrived to look up and notice that the bell tower is in a state of repair. I heard a funny story about that bell tower before we got started for the church service. The kids from ARK (Amazing River Kids) were gathering last Thursday and one of the events is to ring the bell. The poor guy was working on it when the kids pulled the rope! The adults went out later and found that he packed up and went home. I am sure he will be back; however, he will stop working when the kids arrive. I also heard that the prayer shawls are making a noticeable presence in the valley itself. This is good news.

St. Thomas (Rawlins): I met with the Ministry Support Team last Thursday. We are currently working through customaries. They have finished up weddings and now they are looking at funerals. When this is completed they will the look at baptism. This is important work. I stay briefly after the MST meeting and spoke with the vestry and gave my report. My report included vacation times (I am taking time for holiday in June, July and August) and the up-coming Safe Guarding God’s People presentation and the preaching workshop in June.

St. James (Encampment): Not much to report at this time as they begin to work on putting together the details for the CCW BBQ in August. I am looking forward to hearing their progress on the putting together a bid to build a parish hall with a bathroom in the coming weeks.

St. Luke (Medicine Bow): Again not much to report other that I spoke to Arlen last Friday about the passing of his sister. This was expected but Arlen will have to spend some time on travel and preparing for her funeral. We decided that I will preach on the up-coming Sunday and so Arlen would not have to be concerned about writing a sermon among all the other activities that he needs to tend to.

Ministry Development: Last Thursday (May 13) I traveled to Laramie and caught up with Pat to begin preparing for Safe Guarding God’s People presentation. I will be putting together an electronic information packet for those who will be taking the training. Please contact me or Andrew Kerr andrew@wyomingdiocese to let one of know that you are planning on participating.

What is on deck for this coming week? Monday I will be traveling to LSRV for their bi-monthly Spring Bible Café as we read the Psalms and that evening I will be meeting the Regional Reps and Ministry Developers for our monthly WebEx meeting. Wednesday I will be starting my day with the weekly WebEx meeting with the Ministry Developers then head over to Kraft Hall for a couple of hours. That evening I will be meeting with Jason and Nicki to continue on their pre-marriage counseling. Thursday and Friday are days for sermon writing and general correspondence that I need to catch-up on. Saturday will be the Safe Guarding God’s People presentation on the video compression network from 9am to 12pm. Sunday I will be heading to St. Luke’s in Medicine Bow for Pentecost (Happy Birthday Church!) with the service starting at 10:30am. Have a great week!

Letters to the Churches of Carbon County and Beyond - May 10 2010

May 10, 2010

Good day everybody. I hope the spring time or that in between seasons is bringing out hope and joy. The Mother’s Day event was wonderful and I made sure to acknowledge all the Mothers of our world including Grand-Mothers! I also heard there was a happy Daughter’s day as well. Life around Carbon County continues to unfold and now I am running into summer calendar issues as other life changing events are starting to be planed (life changing events is code for weddings!). This was one of those weeks that I was able to connect with all the churches that I work with and I am encouraged by that. I hope this letter finds you well.

St. James (Encampment): Last Wednesday, May 5^th, Vonnie from St. James wondered over to Kraft Hall to participate in scheduling the church services via WebEx through September. During our time together it was decided that St. James will be hosting a Carbon County Wide BBQ on August 22^nd @ 11am at the city park. St. Luke, St. Thomas, and St. Paul all will be participating and an invitation will be sent to other churches in the area. What excitement. The next day I caught up with Vonnie as we reviewed the CCW BBQ (my title that could change) and talked about sending a couple of kids to the Wyoming Wilderness Camp this summer. There is still time to sign kids up and scholarships are available. This past Sunday, May 9^th, I arrived in Encampment with my two older girls to both celebrate the 6^th Sunday of Easter and Mother’s Day at St. James. Vonnie and I caught everybody up on the latest developments regards to Wyoming Wilderness Camp and the CCW BBQ. My oldest daughter wanted to show off her latest Marshal Arts Form (a series of blocks, kicks, and strikes which builds self-control and self-discipline). Everybody took notice and cheered her on. What a church!

St. Thomas (Rawlins): Last Tuesday, May 4^th, Andrew Kerr along with St. Mark’s (Cheyenne, Wright, and for a while Jackson Hole) all joined in compressed video training event. Andrew is getting all of us up to speed on how to use this new communication tool. Shane of St. Thomas also joined with me as we learned how to present the camera views, learn basic best practices, and to begin thinking about who else needs to be trained to use this equipment. We also discovered a couple of technology issues that we will be addressing in the coming weeks. As I referred to about Wednesday Karen arrived at Kraft Hall as we schedule the services for the summer months and coordinated our effort with St. Thomas. Karen was very receptive to the August 22^nd event. On Friday, May 7^th, Karen and got together with a couple who is planning on getting married on June 5^th and wants us to participate in the ceremony. This will be fun because the Very Rev. Marilyn Engstrom will be presiding. The details are coming together and I am looking forward to this date in Rawlins.

St. Luke (Medicine Bow): Arland joined everybody on Wednesday as he represented St. Luke’s in the scheduling. He will be assisting in the preparation of the CCW BBQ by providing the meat for the meal. Arland also indicated to me that he will be attending the Preaching Workshop in Cheyenne on June 5^th to continue to get relicensed by 2011. He will not be alone for Ralph Hicks from Saratoga told me that he is planning on attending as well.

St. Paul’s (Dixon): Linda joined the call on Wednesday and was most gracious with the scheduling with all the churches. She mentioned that (Rev) Warren Murphy had expressed an interest in spending some time in the “Valley” is summer and he may be called upon to preside at a service this summer. Linda also informed everybody that with the arrival of summer, the Compline event is gearing up for another season and when the dates are set, all are welcomed to participate. It is a good time to have by all.

What is coming up? Monday I will work from the office at home getting a couple of agendas sent out for the meetings that are coming up this week. Tuesday will be a day of sermon writing and preparation for pre-marriage meeting on Wednesday for a couple from Green River. Wednesday I will be on my weekly WebEx meeting with the Ministry Developers and then headed over to Kraft Hall (Rawlins) for a couple of hours. That night I will meet with Jason and Nicki to continue with their pre-marriage counseling. Thursday I will be heading to Laramie to catch-up with Pat to begin planning a training session around “Safeguarding God’s People” that we are planning on presenting on the compressed video network on May 22^nd from 9am to 12pm (so save the dates and more detail will be coming out soon). That evening I will sit down with the Ministry Support Team of St. Thomas for a monthly meeting @ 5:30pm. Friday is one of those days I will tie-up loose ends. Saturday I will be in Green River for a Taekwondo tournament. Sunday I head to St. Paul’s in Dixon. If I have the strength I will travel to LRSV early for a run with Tommy before the service. Following the service @ 10:30am there will be a Ministry Support Team meeting and then I head back to Rawlins.

Letters to the Churches of Carbon County and Beyond

May 4, 2010

Good morning! It has been almost two weeks since I last wrote. As it turns out I was in Riverton two Sunday’s ago for two nights and three days. Because of the timing of the Wyoming Weekend along with the Ministry Developer’s face to face meeting I was unable to post last week. Now I am back in the saddle and ready to go. The month of May brings about an ending and beginning. As of May 1, 2010 Bruce Caldwell has begun his retirement. May God continue to bless him on this new chapter of his life. Margaret Babcock is now on vacation/sabbatical for the next couple of months before she enters an active retirement from the church to write a book, do some teaching, and embracing what God has called her as she continues to be an active member of ministering beyond the church. May God bless her in all her efforts in the future. May is also a time of awaking. Activities around other social institutions like school, recreation events, and increased daylight brings forth a new set of expectations and hopes. Schools will be wrapping up which means for some and for others is means moving up a grade; recreation activities move from indoors to outdoors, and for the church we move out of Easter onto Pentecost and then into ordinary season. I hope this letter finds you well.

St. Thomas (Rawlins): On Saturday (May 1^st) I attended the worship breakfast. When we concluded our business a member of the church how had taught public speaking in high school was invited to teach us about public speaking. I was expecting a review on technical items like where to place the microphone and speaking clearly. What we were given was a workshop on fundamental communication between persons. What Don shared with us has application in everything we do in relationships. I do believe that I have discovered a wonderful gift that is simply to rich to keep to myself. In the days to come I hope that Don’s gift of communication can be shared with others.

St. Luke (Medicine Bow): On April 25^th I presided at St. Luke’s in Medicine Bow. As we gathered and got prepared to start the service a young man popped into the door and asked when does church begin? I mentioned that it starts in about 5 minutes. He said, ok I will go get my friends. He disappeared and we didn’t see him again until coffee hour. The young man came back with his friend and they quickly devoured the cookies and coffee. As we were sitting and talking the young visitor asked if we had sent around the “bucket to collect the money”? I said yes and he responded by reaching into his pocket and pulling out $2.05 worth of change and wanted to put it into the collection. I do believe the church is in good hands.

Ministry Developers: We had our 2^nd annual Wyoming Weekend in which people from throughout the United States comes and visits with us to learn more about Shared Ministry in Wyoming. This year we had guests from Northern Michigan who have been engaged in this ministry longer than Wyoming. It was nice to receive feedback from them as we learn from each other. The Ministry Developers also talked about stewardship, marriage preparation for local congregations and it was time of personal sharing. During our time together we said our “until next time” with Margaret. She has left her mark on the work that has been done in Wyoming. I too have been changed and formed under Margaret’s leadership. I wish her the best and until next time, God’s speed.

St. James (Encampment): Last week I called and talked to Vonnie for a bit. She got me caught up on what has been taking place at St. James. They were working on wrapping up Wade in the Water. There was some brainstorming about having a regional wide worship gathering sometime this summer and we will see how these plans unfold. I am looking forward such an event.

St. Paul (Dixon): I also called and talked to Linda last Wednesday (April 28^th) to see how things were going. Everybody was aware of the changes on the services times as it seems that this group is quite adaptable to the changes as they come up. Last Sunday (May 2^nd) I arrived in the evening accompanied by my two older girls to discover there were three other children their age in attendance. They played and had a good time in the parish hall during the service. Monday (May 3^rd) I arrived for the Spring Bible Café which a regular meeting to read the bible one book and chapter by chapter from cover to cover. We are currently in Psalms which it turns out the readings are mostly about praising God. We are starting Psalm 119 which has 176 verses. We will be on that one for a while. There was a friendly request to hear a sermon on the Psalms. I am up for the challenge.

What is coming up? Today I will work on writing a sermon for Mothers Day. Now that is a challenge! This evening I will sit down with Shane from St. Thomas as we learn more about how to use the compress video equipment here in Rawlins. Wednesday I will be found at Kraft Hall from 10 am to 12pm. During that time there will be a WebEx meeting with the leadership of Carbon County as we schedule the church services for the summer months. Following the WebEx meeting I will be meeting with the leadership of St. James (Encampment) for our monthly get together. Thursday will be one of those days I will tie up loose ends, and work on finishing my sermon. Friday I will attempting to connect with a couple who are planning on getting married this summer here in Rawlins. Sunday I will be traveling to St. James (Encampment) for a Sunday service and I am looking forward to catching up with everybody then. Have a great week.