Letters to the Churches of Carbon County and Beyond

This time of year seems to invite memories. The summer events are now slowly fading into the past and the more recent fun of hunting (for those in Wyoming), high school football (LSRV won their 6 man state championship last weekend), Halloween along with other fall activities are now complete. In some ways November is a harvest month in which we as a nation will take a day of the month, gather around family and friends to celebrate the blessings of our lives. I understand that not everybody will be in good cheer, but the fact that we do gather could provide hope for a better future. With Pat Walsh leaving the position of the Director of the Wyoming Wilderness Camp aka HR Wilderness Camp brings about mixed feelings for me. Pat has done wonderful work with the camp and was a loyal and dedicated member of the Diocese of Wyoming. I admire his spiritual courage to face the challenges ahead by asking me to honor him by doing what I can to continue to honor the ministry of the youth of Wyoming. Where the future may be unknown to him at this time, I am sure that God will continue to honor his personal integrity as a person and as a baptized member of the church. During my conversation with Pat on Saturday he wanted others to know that he would like to here from you when you get a chance. His contact information will be sent in a different e-mail. I will have fond memories of when Pat and I worked together during presentations of Safe Guarding God's Children, two sessions of Middler Camp II in 2009 and 2010, and our lively talks. I pray that the Episcopal Church will continue to harvest the fruits of the seeds that Pat, through the prompting of God, have planted over the past eleven years in Wyoming. Pat was, and still is, a good friend. Ok, now onto the events and happenings of Carbon County. I hope this letter finds you well.

St. James (Encampment): I was heading out the door yesterday with my middle child and my youngest surprised me by quickly getting dressed and ran out the door with me. I have decided a couple of years ago that I would not talk my daughters out of going to church. If they want to come along they are more than welcome to do so. We arrived and the faithful were present. This time of year ranching operations change and selling and breeding of cattle become an important aspect of the landscape (I hope I got that right!). Also the fact that other members of St. James were away on a long anticipated vacation the when two or more are gathered God will be there was in full effect. It was nice to catchup and inform them that I will be preaching and presiding on our normal rotation in the month of December. They await to hear any word about their grant proposal from the Foundation. I am optimistic about what is to come. The girls enjoyed their time in Encampment.

St. Thomas (Rawlins): Last Tuesday I participated in the weekly Gospel Study which has been rewarding and helpful for my sermon preparation. Wednesday I stuck around for short period of time at Kraft Hall and headed home to get some resources on my laptop for the parish administrator. Thursday I sat down with the Ministry Support Team aka MST and we decided as a group that in our future gatherings it would be held an hour before the vestry meeting and they will review five areas – Worship, Pastoral Care, Administration, Formation, and Transformation and share what is taking place in these areas. What is helpful is the agenda for the meeting is set along with the time and date. Everybody can participate and see the large picture.

St. Paul (Dixon/LRSV): Now I have a funny story (well for others it may be funny it could have ended poorly but it didn't) about driving on the “Baggs Highway.” Last Monday I headed out of Rawlins and noticed that I had a ½ tank of gas according to my gauge in my car. I was south of Cresten Junction which is 24 miles west of Rawlins on I-80 where a person turns south to head for Dixon when the gas gauge dropped to low fuel status. I did ok until I was about 19 miles north of Baggs when the fuel ran out. How do I know the exact location? My GPS told me. Any ways I surrendered to the fact that I was about to share a similar experience with Jesus and walk about the same distance they covered in a day. As it turned out God had other plans. I was given a ride into town, found a friend who had a 5 gallon gas can which we filled up and he drove me back to my car. I arrived at my scheduled event just in time to enjoy the goodies. Whew! That was a close one. Thursday I drove back to the Little Snake River Valley (this time with plenty of fuel) and talked to different people from St. Paul's about the next steps for Linda to move forward to the priesthood.

St. Luke (Medicine Bow): Not much to report other than I am heading to St. Luke's in a couple of weeks to preach and preside. These smaller churches provide an icon into God's gracious and wonderful blessing. Spending time with smaller churches give me a deeper appreciation of the depth and range of the church and how it takes all kinds of churches to make the entire body healthy and vital. The Diocese of Wyoming landscape provides a nice diversity when it comes to sizes of congregations.

What is coming up? This morning (Monday) I was on the weekly WebEx meeting with Ministry Developers in which we welcomed two new members to the team – (Rev) Roy Walworth and (Rev) Joel Dingman. Tuesday I will be working with (Rev) Tristan English on exploring seeing if we are one more step closer to getting the VTC up and running. Wednesday I am planning on hosting and participating on a WebEx meeting with the Wyoming Wilderness aka HR Wilderness Camp spiritual planning team. Thursday is my write my sermon day and Friday I will be on another WebEx meeting with the Evangelism Team that Kathy Robinson has put together. This upcoming Sunday I head to St. Paul's in Dixon to preach and preside and to eat at the senior center following the service. That evening Rawlins will be having a Community Thanksgiving Event at the Jeffery Center starting at 5pm. Have a great week.