Letters to the Churches of Carbon County and Beyond

June 21, 2010

Ha,ha,ha. My stint as the interim communications director of the Diocese of Wyoming was a short one. No problem. Bishop Elect John Smylie talked to me on Saturday after the Regional Confirmation Service and thanked me for stepping in and being a team player; however he had somebody in mind for the position. The eSpirit announcement has gone out, the web-site is up-dated with the news and I will return with my full efforts to being the Ministry Developer in Region 4. With that in mind let’s now turn to the events of Carbon County. I hope this letter finds you well.

St. Paul (Dixon): Yesterday was a special day for a particular reason, a couple who gotten married fifty years ago wanted their wedding vows renewed at St. Paul’s. Linda received the request on Friday and went to the church early on Sunday to look up their information in the church register. As it turned out they needed to sign it and it was not witnessed. So, we renewed their vows and signed the register stating that yes they have been married for 50 years. As we shared the Peace the organist realized it was her mother who played at their wedding and yes there was even an active member of the church present for both events. It was truly a touching moment for all. In real way I witnessed a weaving of the past with the present.

St. Thomas (Rawlins): Karen and I have begun working on Prepare/Enrich pre-marriage counseling training for that day when Karen gets the request to marry a couple. Prepare/Enrich is a well put together program with about 30 years of research and development. It also works nicely with Karen’s family systems work. On Thursday I met with the Ministry Support Team of St. Thomas and we discussed various items. We have a date for another calling for the priesthood and deaconate and we agreed to use Born of Water, Born of Spirit: Supporting the Ministry of the Baptized in Small Congregations for formation this fall. The reminder of our time together we talked about a growing edge in Shared Ministry. Overall the conversation was productive.

St. James (Encampment): Last week I caught up with the leadership of St. James who live in Rawlins for lunch. During our time together we discussed using Born of Water, Born of Spirit: Supporting the Ministry of the Baptized in Small Congregations for formation this fall (catching the theme here – wink, wink) and got up-dated on the county wide BBQ information. Vonnie has sent out a flyer in an e-mail and so I hope people can save the date and attend in August.

St. Luke (Medicine Bow): I called and spoke to Arlen this morning as I was heading to Baggs for the Summer Bible Café and we discussed what he learned during the preaching workshop that he attended at the beginning of this month. We also agreed that he will preach and I will get to listen to what he has learned. Arlen sounded really excited. I also am looking forward to hearing how the baptism of his grand-child (I think I got that right) went in Lander. One thing we will be discussing this Sunday is planning a service at Lillian’s ranch sometime in August.

Ministry Developer: Like I referenced at the beginning of this posting the communications work for the Diocese has been handed over to Tristan English who will officially start on July 15, 2010. I will be around to help where needed. I also attended the regional confirmation service that was held at St. Christopher’s in Cheyenne last Saturday. Bishop Elect Smylie preaching and presided and (Ret.) Rt. Rev. Vern Strickland did the laying on hands. During the reception following the service Smylie asked the confirmands if they had anything to share and one put it simply and honestly … “Thank you for coming.” It was an important moment in her life and it was good to share it with her.

What is coming up? Monday is now in the books. This morning the Ministry Developers had their weekly WebEx meeting this morning. This afternoon I headed to Baggs for the Summer Bible Café with ten people in attendance. This evening I up-dated the Diocesan web-site, and sent out an eSpirit. Tuesday I will be working with Karen on continuing the Prepare/Enrich training starting at 9:30am at St. Thomas and then that afternoon get caught up on sending out the notes from the Regional Rep Meeting and the notes from the Ministry Support Team meeting at St. Thomas (last week). Wednesday I will have office hours at Kraft Hall (Rawlins) from 10:30am to 12pm. I will be working on putting together a timeline for Born of Water, Born of Spirit study, preaching workshop write-up and a “honking report” for the Livingstones in Rawlins. Thursday I will attempt to secure some dates for Safeguarding God’s People and Children (prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation in children and adults) to be broadcasted on the VTC aka video teleconferencing network in September of 2010. Friday is one of those catch up days. Sunday I will be presiding at St. Luke’s in Medicine Bow and then that evening I will be in Douglas for a Law Enforcement Chaplain workshop till Wednesday (June 30^th). That afternoon the Ministry Developers are meeting with Bishop Elect John Smylie.

Letters to the Churches of Carbon County - June 13 2010

June 13, 2010

I am back from my staycation for the past week. I was the on-duty for the Rawlins Police Department Chaplain for the week so I took full advantage of attending briefings, and had a ride along on Friday. Also throughout the week I was running the kids out to a local VBS (vacation bible school) in the morning and was frustrated with the evening rain showers that kept us from fishing. Overall it was a good time. I got to attend both Moo Sul Kwan workouts and relax. I squeezed in a sermon for Sunday and avoided being washed out by the rivers. Now there has been some talk about building an Ark and a neighbor of mine is gathering animals. Yesterday I ran a fun run 5k (three miles) and did well in the snow/rain, wind and cold. Enough about me, on to what took place a couple of weeks ago and today. I hope this letter finds you well.

St. Thomas (Rawlins) – On June 2nd (Wednesday) I spend a couple of hours at Kraft Hall. It was a time to write my vestry report and work on an order of service for Mark and Diane’s wedding. The next day I wrote my sermon and addressed a transit need concern. On Friday (June 4^th) Marilyn, Karen and I got together for a wedding rehearsal. Marilyn had some really good ideas on how to incorporate the three of us into the service and I believe it was a balanced approach in blessing this relationship. The wedding itself (June 5^th) had over three hundred people in attendance I the responses I received after the service as favorable. Last Sunday (June 6^th if you are keeping the dates straight) St. Thomas had the kids who were promoting recognized. Promotion is that time when kids move from pre-school to kindergarten, grade school to middle school and onto high school.

St. Paul’s (Dixon): I arrived in time to catch up with Tommy for a run last Sunday; however, we got our wires crossed. I took advantage of the quiet at the church and planned out my next week of activities (my staycation) and reviewed my sermon and made some changes. As everybody arrived Linda Fleming and I played around with the sound system trying to get it to work. We did, however in the middle of the service the system went on the fritz. The funny thing was a three year boy watched us and wanted to play around with the equipment during the service. Jo had her hands full keeping the little boy away from the “forbidden apple”. No problems all ended well.

St. Luke (Medicine Bow): I caught up with Arlen Rounds in Cheyenne on June 5th for a Preaching workshop. He was really engaged and contributed to the conversation nicely. He also told me that he would not make it to Medicine Bow on June 13^th as he was going to attend a baptism in another part of the state. He laughed when he told me and said that (Rev) Jess Smith will have to go solo again. I smiled and said that I believe the fine folks of St. Luke’s will take care of everything quite nicely.

St. James (Encampment): I was in Encampment this Sunday (June 13^th) for services. The day what is becoming its usual weather cloudy and raining. The girls wanted to come along and so I had two girls chatting away in the back on the way. The Johnson’s had one of their grand-daughters with them and so we had a church with the youth well represented. Upon the completion of the service I drove around the block with Lois and we visited Julia (I think I have that right) who is in her 90’s. She smiled and said I was expecting Roxan, but you will do.

Summer time is a time for me to “reload” on some ideas that I have in regards to formation in the Fall. I am looking at using a book that has been recently published Born of Water, Born of Spirit that talks about Shared Ministry that is being lived out throughout the United States. I am excited about the conversations we will have as the congregations of Region 4 look at Shared Ministry knowing that they are not alone in this work. Also Andrew Kerr is moving on to another career opportunity and will be leaving the Diocese at the end of the month. With that in mind I have agreed to set into his ministry of communication for the interim to provide some stability as Bishop Elect John Smylie decides on what direction he wants to go with the Diocese. I do have some ideas about how to use the video teleconferencing or VTC for training and other various education opportunities and will use some of my experience in writing this weekly posting with the eSpirit. When Andy talked to me about taking over I laughed and said that he will forget more than anything I have ever learn when it comes to this kind of work. Andy assured me that I am up for the challenge.

What is coming up? Monday I will be spending the day in Casper so that Andy can train me about how to send the eSpirit, Moodle, WebSite administration, VTC (video teleconferencing), WebEx, and other various things. I am sure we will not cover everything, but we will get a good start. That evening I will be on a WebEx meeting with the Regional Reps and Ministry Developers at 5:30 pm. Tuesday I will be on a WebEx meeting with the Ministry Developers starting at 8am and then at 9:30am Karen and I will begin training on how to use Prepare/Enrich pre-marriage counseling the first of three training sessions. Wednesday I will once again meet with Karen as we practice a baptism for preparation for a baptism that Karen will be presiding this up-coming Sunday at St. Thomas. Then there will be office hours at Kraft Hall. Following that I will meet with the leadership of St. James for lunch as we review what has taken place putting together a bid to build a parish hall. Wednesday evening I will be meeting with Jason and Nicki (Green River) to continue with our pre-marriage counseling sessions. Thursday I will meet with the Ministry Support Team of St. Thomas in Rawlins at 5:30pm. Saturday I will be heading over to Cheyenne to attend the regional confirmation service for Region 4 which will be held at St. Christopher’s starting at 11am. Sunday I will be heading to St. Paul’s in Dixon for a service that starts at 10:30 am with a Ministry Support Team meeting following the service. Yes, vacation is over and it is time to get back to work.

Letters to the Churches of Carbon County and Beyond

June 1, 2010

Good morning fine folks of Carbon County and a big Wyoming hello to those who receive this weekly posting who we are blessed to call family and friends. This past weekend was mostly filled with play and fellowship. I watched a movie called “Take Chance”. The movie showed the deep ritual of what it means to bring home a fallen serviceman home from war. It was based on a true story and I was impressed by why it was important to have an escort. The escort is to witness the return to home and (in my humble opinion) to let others know who are continued to be called upon to serve in this way, what they do will not be forgotten. In some ways I see my work as a Ministry Developer is one of those roles, to witness the work of smaller congregations and to let them know what they do will not be forgotten. It is a humbling task. Ok, now on to the musings of Carbon County. I hope this letter finds you well.

St. Paul’s (Dixon): I arrived in Dixon yesterday for an abbreviated service. We read the lessons, did the prayers of the people, skipped the homily, and celebrated the Eucharist. Linda informed everybody before we got started that we will not have a printed order of service. The reason for this change in the order was to give everybody enough time to gather at Reader Cemetery to recognize Memorial Day. It went quite well. We all gathered at the Cemetery and once again Linda Fleming was called upon to start the service (it is tradition that the Episcopal Church be the ones who lead the service). After the service everybody was invited to drive down the road to attend the opening of the Savory Museum and enjoy a full size hamburger fry. As I was wrapping up I was requested to preside at a graveside service that afternoon. Linda laughed and said, “Doug, you are a truly a traveling preacher. You can marry and bury.” I was honored to be of a service for the family on such short notice. It was a God moment.

St. Thomas (Rawlins): Last Wednesday caught up with Karen as she makes plans for the summer and we scheduled 3 sessions for her to be prepared to lead pre-marriage counseling sessions if she is so called upon to do so. I also worked preparing for a wedding that will be hosted this weekend here in Rawlins in which Marilyn (Laramie), Karen and I will all be participating. It is the fine details that catch me unaware and I really appreciate a team effort in covering all the bases.

St. James (Encampment): I spoke with Vonnie last week and she told me the church will be sending a total of four kids to Wyoming Wilderness Camp this year. Three of them will be attending the Middler I and II (July 4^th through the 9^th). I also informed her that I will be driving a shuttle this year and we will be picking kids up as we drive the lower half of Wyoming. I hope this is successful. I also scheduled a lunch with the leadership group for the month of June.

St. Luke (Medicine Bow): This is not much to report this week. I am sure soon I will check in with the Rounds to find out how the 501 (c) 3 application is coming along. I am sure there will be few problems to overcome (and there are always those fussy details to attend to!).

What is coming up? Tuesday is a more of an administrative day as I wrapped up plans for the wedding this weekend in Rawlins. Wednesday I will be in Kraft Hall for a couple of hours (10:30am to 12pm) working on putting together reports and the like preparing for my staycation next week. Thursday is one of those days that I will work on tying up loose ends. Friday is a wedding rehearsal at 2pm. Saturday I will be in Cheyenne for a preaching workshop in the morning and return to Rawlins for the Celebration and Blessing of the Marriage of Mark Glenn Kulmus and Diane Kathleen Johnson starting at 4pm.Sunday is going to be a full day starting at St. Thomas in Rawlins. The church will be recognizing those who have graduated from pre-school all the way to college. Then I will drive to LSRV for a run with Tommy prior to the services at St. Paul’s in Dixon that starts at 5pm. Then it is vacation!