Letters to Churches of Carbon County & Beyond

These two past weeks were full of activity and I find myself spending less time on the computer and more time on the phone and seeing people face to face. I believe that would make a nice Lenten discipline. A quick overview of what has taken place for the past two weeks – YES! Ski Camp in Cody and Montana; winter bible cafe; two church services; gospel study, and professional development. Like I said a full couple of weeks. Now to offer more details about what is taking place throughout the County.

St. Paul's (Dixon): Here is a group that went from quiet and peaceful days to have a month of March full of activities! Will they pull it off? I say yes they will with God's help. A couple of weeks ago I arrived to participate in the Winter Bible Cafe. As it worked out one of the leaders of this event was on a roll expressing her thoughts and feelings about how people go back and forth in following God which matched with the opening of Isaiah chapter 62. Great timing on God's behalf. Another God moment took place yesterday. I was asked (it was a really long shot) to see if I could assist in locating a homeless man in Redding California as it turns out the Rev. Charlie Poole (I think I spelled that right) who is a retired Episcopal Priest from Redding was in attendance at the church service. He said that he will help out and listed three different organizations that he can talk with to help location this man. WOW talk about bring things together in a mysterious way.

St. Paul is also getting ready for their Strove Tuesday Pancake dinner supper this week. Then it is the first of hopefully many Fun, Family, Faith Night on March 17, 2011 at the Baggs Community Center starting at 6pm to about 8. It is designed for families with young children to meet and make new friends and to kindle old friendships. It is like a potluck with boardgames and childcare will be provided. Then St. Paul will have a COM Community Interview to about complete the first stage of Linda Fleming's process toward the priesthood and that is scheduled for the next day. Yes they will be busy for March!

St. Thomas (Rawlins): This group is plugging along. I have attended a couple of the Gospel Study meetings that take place every Tuesday morning from 9am to 10am and all are welcomed. These times together give me a sense of how to understand the Gospel story in today's context. I have also heard that Rhythms of Grace was well attended in February with about fourteen people including children and adults participating. They too are getting geared up for Strove Tuesday as a time for the congregation together for food and fellowship. St. Thomas will also have a St. Patrick’s evening meal and the church is already becoming green. Yesterday was “Give a Lift” Sunday in which everybody gathered after church in the undercroft for coffee and sweet food. During the time together we watched a twenty minute DVD on the Freedom Flight in which WWII Veterans visited Washington for about 48 hours to see the WWII Memorial and meet the Senators and Representative of Wyoming. One of St. Thomas' own was on the flight!

St. Luke (Medicine Bow): I really admire their effort to be the church with the different challenges they face. I have heard a report that the Round's wrestled with bad roads and weather. I also heard that one service was held at a home to assist with the heating issue (it would take too long to heat up the church). I spoke with Arlen today (Monday) and we had a great brain storming session about different ideas that expand beyond the local church. We are also working on getting his preaching licensing started. The date seems to be a moving target!

St. James (Encampment): The last one in the list, but not in my mind! I spoke to Vonnie on Monday morning as it turns out we had scheduled a Biblical DiSC(c) training lined up that now needs to be moved to April for a couple off good reasons. One, an important member of the church will not be available for the training and two, another member of the church could be there in April. So, we moved the date to April. I heard the Rev. Jess Smith was snowed out the last time he was heading to Encampment and so they carried on without him. All Shall be Well!

Ministry Development work: Where do I start? I have been working on DiSC(c) and Discipleship which I have found to be insightful and challenging for me to look at how I preach, preside, and lead in the church. This program is giving me tools to “change up” and to offer more to the church. I am also working with Rebekah Simon-Peter on co-presenting a workshop called “6 Steps to ReThinking Communication” in Denver on March 17, 2011. I see this as further professional development. The Regional Reps and the Ministry Developers met last week by WebEx and we checked in. This Lent is going to be full of surprises and I hope I can keep up!

What is coming up this week? Tuesday I will be attending the Gospel Study at St. Thomas (Kraft Hall) @ 9am for an hour. That afternoon I will be attending a seminar put on by Landmark Education called “Breakthroughs: Living outside the Box”. Wednesday I will be at Kraft Hall from 10 am to 12 pm. Thursday is going to be busy. Starting with a DiSC(c) and Discipleship conference call at 8am to 9:30 am. That afternoon I will meet with the Ministry Support Team and the Vestry of St. Thomas starting at 5:30 pm. On Saturday I will meet with the worship leaders of St. Thomas at 8:30 am at McDonald's. Sunday I will be heading to St. James in Encampment to preach and preside starting at 9am. Have a great week!