Letters to the Churches of Carbon County and Beyond - July 25 2010

The sermons for the past three weeks have really hit home for me. The first of the three talked about doing God’s work of mercy and justice (Good Samaritan), the second week was about being in the presence of God (Mary choose the better half) and this week I picked up on the need to pray and combine the two concepts of being and doing together. With that in mind I have also realized that I am as busy as I want to be and perhaps I can slow down to enjoy my “daily bread” and see the gifts of God’s love and presence in the immediate. I have put together my weekly schedule and I was more intentional about putting in only the important “big rocks” in my calendar and let life take care of the rest. I hope this letter finds you well.

On major “rock” in my life was a decision that Kellie and I have been talking about for about six months. Last Tuesday we put our house on the market. It is a good time because there is a good balance between the buyer and seller in the housing market right now and that window will be closing soon. This is a part of a debt reduction plan and we are planning on renting for the time being. This also means that we are NOT leaving the area anytime soon. Now, for those who like to read between the lines, you will discover there is nothing between the lines (smile!). We are happy to be in Carbon County. Ok now on to the news of the week.

St. Luke (Medicine Bow): I arrived with the two younger girls this morning in Medicine Bow. It was one of those perfect mornings in which the weather was near perfect. The large wind-mills were perfectly still, the antelope were playing on the side of the road and they remained there, and it was not too hot. Lillian was waiting because she forgot her keys and Alberta was not too far behind. Arlen had dropped off a box of priestly hosts (which St. Luke needed for quite some time) and candles. The music was provided for by Janet and we had a great time worshiping and enjoying one’s company. We also decided that going to Lillian’s ranch this summer may be a bit risky because of the large trucks hauling gravel up and down the narrow road. We will be revising that plan in September when things quite down a bit.

St. James (Encampment): Not much to report this week. I have been in conversation with Fred and Vonnie and discovered that Fred has some of his children coming to visit next week. This reunion was long time coming and I sure hope their time together is memorable and rewarding. I did receive news that the camper who attended the Jr. High Adventure Camp had left behind some items, but not to worry in the coming weeks and month everything will be returned to Encampment. I heard that it was a good time by all who attended the session this year. If you like to learn more you can go to the blog site at this address.

St. Paul’s (Dixon): I arrived to attend another exciting session of Summer Bible Café. We are working through the book of Proverbs and it was noted that our culture is letting down a bit on expectations and standards of conduct. Not to worry, St. Paul is a gracious bunch and it was believed that through failure growth takes place and it is ok to struggle when learning. They will be putting together a group of people as they travel to Casper this up-coming Saturday for the grand event.

St. Thomas (Rawlins): As it turned out I spend a more time in Rawlins this week in a pastoral capacity. There was an untimely death in the community and this brought sadness to St. Thomas. I visited with the family for a couple of hours and that brought healing and closure to this unfortunate turn of events. Stephanie was most gracious with me and allowed me a bit of wiggle room to get my article written for the monthly news letter along with submitting my dates for August. Thanks!

Ministry Developer: We had our monthly WebEx meeting with the Regional Reps. It is clear that we are in the midst of summer activities as we had a small group gather on line. The conversation was fruit full as we learned there will be a bus going from Jackson Hole to Casper for the Installment and Consecration of the Bishop Elect Rev. John Smylie. The sacramental coverage is being addressed for the time being and overall people are enjoying the busy, yet rewarding summer months of Wyoming.

What is coming up? On Monday the Ministry Developers will get together for their weekly WebEx meeting that starts at 8:30am. That afternoon I will be attending a graveside service in Rawlins. Tuesday I will be heading to Cheyenne for the middle child’s dentist appointment. Wednesday I will be meeting with Karen and her family system’s debriefing group at 9am and then heading over to Kraft Hall at 10:30am to 12pm for office hours. Thursday I will be co-presiding with Karen at another graveside service in Rawlins. Saturday is the big event for the Diocese of Wyoming when the Rev. John Smylie will become the next Bishop of Wyoming. May his Episcopate be a successful one!

Letters to the Churches of Carbon County and Beyond - July 18 2010

On Thursday I had a chance to catch up with the some of the fine folks of St. Paul’s and it was noted that my weekly letter had been on sabbatical for a couple of weeks and when it was back up a person felt tired as she read all that I do in a week. Yes, I am busy. However, the primary purpose of my weekly musing of what takes place throughout Carbon County is to share what the churches are doing with one another and to the greater part of the Diocese of Wyoming. Some people may not know this, but this weekly postings travel to different parts of the United States and is published on a blog. That is something to consider that people outside of Carbon County are keeping up with the events that are taking place INSIDE of Carbon County. The church is going internet! I hope this letter finds you well.

St. Paul’s (Dixon aka LSRV): With the Episcopal Church using the Revised Common Lectionary we now have more choices on the Sunday assigned readings. I e-mailed Linda Fleming earlier this week to let her know which ones to assign. I arrived in Jo’s Campground for sharing and compline service. This event takes place once a month during the warmer part of the year. The sharing part of the gathering is often around at theme and this night it was gratitude. What do I appreciate? The work I do. I am one of those blessed people who get to travel around Carbon County and take in the beautiful sites and work with an independent lot. The mountains put on quite a show almost year round.

Sunday (July 18th) I arrived for a Holy Eucharist service at 10:30am. There were twenty four people in attendance with seven of them kids. One of the kids was a camper this year and he brought two of his friends, his brother, and mother. Nice turn out! After the service the people gathered for a Ministry Support Team meeting in which there was some general check in and beginning to plan for Bishop (Elect) John Smylie’s visit in September. They also discussed the county wide gathering that will be taking place in August and as it turns out I will be presiding at St. Paul’s for an early HE II service on August 22nd to make up for the 2nd service that they will miss because I am on vacation. Everybody was agreeable to that solution.

St. Thomas (Rawlins): Last Tuesday I met with Rev. Karen Buckingham for her final training on Prepare/Enrich pre-marriage counseling training. The material we covered worked nicely with what she is learning at the Family Systems retreats. Talking about retreats Karen has returned from her fourth retreat and is now completed over half of the material. We talked briefly about how to put what she is learning to use and this is an ongoing process of learning and being.

Wednesday I was at Kraft Hall for office hours in which I had a chance to up-date Stephanie on the weekly dates for the bulletin. I made a couple of phone calls to other people throughout the County. I also received a call from Gerry informing me that most of the members of the Ministry Support Team of St. Thomas were going to be out of town or had other commitments on the date that was proposed to meet and so we rescheduled to met some time in August. Those pesky summer vacations! (Now smile because I am!).

Saturday I caught up with the Worship Breakfast of St. Thomas in which we review the up-coming month and make plans. It is clear that we are in the summer months as people travel and participate in summer activities. August is the final month before school starts again and so people are getting the most of their time. Everything is covered (with some creative scheduling).

St. James (Encampment): They have sent another camper to Wyoming Wilderness Camp for the Jr. High Adventure Camp. The primary person who volunteered to drive the camper up to Esterbrook has been fighting the flu and decided it was best to remain at home. Not to worry I called Pat and he gave me a list of people along with himself who could take him up. I am sure all the travel arrangements have been made. They have been working hard on the plans for the August 22nd “Church in the Park” that will be held in Encampment. For more information please contact Vonnie Asbell or myself.

St. Luke (Medicine Bow): There is not much to report this week. I will head that direction this up-coming Sunday and I am looking forward to finalizing plans on hosting a HE II service at Lillian Burnett’s ranch. I did hear that they are making plans to attend the consecration and installment of the Rev. John Smylie at the end of the month. Ah, the lazy days of summer!

Ministry Developers: On Monday the Ministry Developers got together for their first WebEx meeting for the month of July. We all said our good-bye’s to Warren as he wrapped up his work here in Wyoming. I remember a line from a movie in which a football player was badly injured in a car accident. The couch was praying for him and he responded, “Coach, I am badly injured, but I am not DEAD!” Warren may be leaving Wyoming but he is still a dear and close friend to all whom he worked with over the past three years.

I also had a chance to catch up with Tristan briefly has he gets his feet wet in his new position. He will do just fine. He wants to find ways to connect the Diocese through enhancing communication based on the fine work of Andy Kerr. We are off to a good start.

I was the Police Chaplain on duty for week and so I was able to attend a couple of briefings and got to do a ride along on Saturday. Along with the chaplain duty I am looking at getting some DiSC training so that I can become a facilitator of this wonderful group building tool. It may seems like I was really busy (perhaps I am in a bit of denial), but it didn’t feel like it.

What is coming up? Monday is a WebEx day. Starting at 8:30am the Ministry Developers will be meeting for about an hour and then that evening the Ministry Developers along with the Regional Reps will be getting together on the WebEx for general check in and finding out how we can be supportive for the final leg of the bishop election and installment. Between the WebEx meetings I will be heading to LSRV for the bi-monthly Summer Bible Café starting at 2pm. Wednesday I will be found at Kraft Hall between 10:30am to 12pm for office hours. As it turns out it is a light week for appointments and so I will be working on other various projects as the summer days drift on by. Have a great week!

Letters to the Churches of Carbon County - July 11 2010

July 10, 2010

I don’t know about you, but somehow the past two weeks have passed me by without much notice. What have I been up to? The last time I wrote I was heading to Douglas for a couple of days for a Law Enforcement Chaplain Training and the next thing I knew I found myself heading to Esterbrook/Wyoming Wilderness Camp for a week to be the Spiritual Director for the Middler I and II Camp. The time has flown by! I am ready to stay IN Carbon County for a couple of weeks as I take a vacation from my vacation. I hope this letter finds you well.

St. Luke’s (Medicine Bow): If people can remember far enough back they could recall that I was looking forward to hearing Arlen’s sermon as he wanted to put into action some of the things that he learned at the Preaching Workshop that took place during the first part of the month in June. He did well. He preached more from notes rather than a script and shared with us an image of the “light of Christ” as his grand-child reached for and held tightly the baptismal candle at her baptism. On another front there was considerable effort to start a pre-school in Medicine Bow and given the economic climate in Carbon County it was decided to table that effort for the time being. Some of the ground work has been laid and perhaps sometime in the future it can be picked up again.


St. Paul’s (Dixon): Not much to report this week. I was able to join with members of the congregation as they continue to work through the Bible one book and one chapter at a time. They are now in Proverbs. The theme that seemed to come up again and again was the everyday wisdom of the scriptures and how to apply it today which is a real challenge. As usual the social time following the study was delightful.






St. Luke’s (Encampment): I arrived in Encampment today (July 11th) for a service. We are starting to sing which is a wonderful development in our worship experience. We are also visiting a long time member who is unable to attend the services due to access issues to the building. Julia is in her 90’s and still going strong. As it turns out she is the “baby” in her family and still has two other sisters who are alive. Talk about the memories those three have to share! St. Luke has also submitted a grant to build a parish hall which will include that all important bathroom.


St. Thomas (Rawlins): They had completed their yearly VBS last week. I am looking forward to hearing about how that went. A couple of weeks ago a long time member of St. Thomas – Bob Woodhouse passed away in his home. It was the church who first recognized that something was not right when he didn’t arrive for services on Sunday. After a few phone calls the police arrived at him home and found him. Bob didn’t serve on the vestry during my time as a Ministry Developer at St. Thomas and he didn’t serve on any ministry teams; however he was a valued member of the church and he will be missed. God’s Peace be with you Bob.

Ministry Developers: If you want to know what I have been up to for the past week, check out this blog http://wyomingwildernesscamp.blogspot.com/ it was a good time. By the generous gift from St. Paul Alexis was able to attend this camp as a camper. St. Paul also sent another camper to this session and will be sending second camper to the Junior High Adventure camp in a couple of weeks. As some of you are aware, the Ministry Developers met with the (Ret.) the Rt. Rev. Vernon Strickland, who is the Canon of the Ordinary and the Bishop Elect the Rev. John Smylie a couple weeks ago. The meeting was helpful as we shared with them what is taking place throughout the regions. We are clearly in transition with the leadership and in the coming months it will become clear what the vision of our future holds.

What is coming up? Monday is the weekly WebEx meeting with the Ministry Developers starting at 8:30am. Tuesday I will meet with the Rev. Karen Buckingham at St. Thomas to complete the training with Prepare/Enrich. Wednesday I will be having office hours at Kraft Hall from 10:30am to 12pm and that evening will be meeting with the Ministry Support Team of St. Thomas starting at 5:30pm. Thursday I will be heading to LSRV for their monthly Compline and Sharing at Jo’s Campground and that event begins at 6pm. Saturday I will be meeting with the worship ministry team of St. Thomas at 8:30am for breakfast and planning the next month of services. Sunday I will be heading to St. Paul’s in Dixon to preside and that service begins at 10:30am. Have a great week!