Letters to the Churches of Carbon County

Today I look at my coming week and I looking at the possibility of pulling off an amazing week that is full of travel, fun events, and discovery. It is counter-cultural to the season of Lent in which a person is invited to spend more time (I read slow down) with the church, as it turns out I will be spending more time on the road going from event to event to work on my personal and professional development. Throughout the week I will work with three different churches in Carbon County, which is great news. I am looking forward to seeing how all this work will be integrated into the overall mission of the church. I hope this letter finds you well.

St. James (Encampment): On Sunday I traveled to Encampment. As I was driving along, my middle child was taking in the view and noted that the landscape of Wyoming looks spectacular this time of year with the fresh snow on the mountains and the ground is starting to wake up from a wintery sleep. The members of St. James are working hard on taking an important and notable step in their ministry and recognize a dream the building a parish hall that includes a bathroom. They have made a down payment with the contractor and will be applying for a building permit this week. They also have received a letter from the Diocesan Office about the up-coming Bishop Visit in May and have begun to make plans. This year Bishop Visit weekend will cover two churches and so the details need to be worked out between Encampment and Saratoga. The DiSC(R) training will be hosted in April which will be better because of the increased daylight. It is good to see this congregation come alive with anticipation of something big and wonderful right around the corner or at the top of a mountain.

St. Thomas (Rawlins): Wednesday I found myself looking at my watch and saying to myself that I can make the 7pm Ash Wednesday service. As it turned out that was a good thing because I was asked to step in to preside. It was nice to participate in the service and share the responsibilities with another priest. On Thursday the Ministry Support Team met and we filled in the “wheel” or the “ministry circle” with many different activities. The exciting development at St. Thomas along with the building of their lift is the outreach is starting to take place with foster care families. Great plans are being made which include a Safeguarding God's Children training. I am in conversation with the Rev. Tristan English (communications officer) about how to make this training available throughout the Diocese through the VTC. I also met with the vestry and during our meeting it was suggested to look at the by-laws of the church and up-date them to reflect the current life and operation of the church. As I think about this work I realize that this is a Ministry Review that takes a longer view and goes deeper. My impression is that the work will be done around roles and expectations of the ministries, Vestry, Ministry Support Team, Local Priest and etc.

St. Luke (Medicine Bow): Not much to report this week. I do think long and hard about what I can do to help develop this community. They are a faithful group of people who are reliable and you can count on them to be present every other Sunday for worship. I trust that God will show us all the way forward when it comes to this community. They always hope that a company that has been looking forward to building a coal to liquid plant will pass another step to move forward on that project.

St. Paul (Dixon): This last Sunday I preached and presided at their Ash Wednesday service. I moved to the unfamiliar and preached without notes. As we gathered around the table a retired Episcopal priest assisted. As it turns out this was one those special times in which I got to celebrate Ash Wednesday services with fellow priests. I don't think that will happen again for a long time. They are getting read for the COM's community interview that is to take place this week. This community has been working on this development for a long time and it is nice to see some notable stages reached.

What is coming up? The theme this week is travel! Monday I head to Little Snake River Valley for their winter/spring Bible Cafe and we will complete Isiah. Tuesday I will be participating in the Gospel Study and then that afternoon I head to Denver for a Landmark Education seminar. Wednesday I head to Casper for a Communications Visioning Strategic all day workshop. From there I return to Denver so that on Thursday I can co-present “6 Steps of Rethinking Communication” with BridgeWorks Inc. Friday I return to St. Paul's in Dixon to participate in the COM community interview. On Sunday I will be at St. Paul's (Dixon) to preach and preside. I think I need more to do.