Letters to the Churches of Carbon County

April has arrived and so did the snow! What fun. One person noted as she headed out the door, “It looks like Christmas Eve.” Kellie was sharing with me last week that on the world wide scene, Easter is bigger than Christmas. Well, we are three weeks away from the grand event. It appeared to me to be a slower week. I think that has more to do with travel. I did all my traveling in the first part of the week and stayed closer to Rawlins from Wednesday forward. I am starting to really appreciate the VTC and I hope that will be a well used tool in the coming months and years. I am still quite aware that we are an incarnational people which means sharing the same air is important and I don't think technology will ever replace the face to face interaction. Talking about interaction lets move on to the events of past week. I hope this letter finds you well.

St. Paul's (Dixon): Last week I attended the bi-monthly Spring Bible Cafe. They are working through Jeremiah and it is dark. It also turns out that the assigned daily readings also come from Jeremiah. The insight that I gained last Monday was that God did not ask for much, but what was asked was important – worship and obedience. Simple concept hard to apply. Much like this quote - “If things were simple, word would have gotten around.” - Jacques Derrida. Yesterday I arrived at St. Paul's for church service. A parishioner noted, “If I can make it to school to read to kids, I can make it to church.” I am happy to hear about that simple logic. Following the service we had a brief vestry meeting to look over the financial and plan some more congregational development work. St. Paul's agreed to participate in a DiSCtm Biblical profile workshop this June. That now makes three out of four congregations that I work with who have made the commitment to this training with DiSCtm. Simple and powerful.

St. Thomas (Rawlins): It was quiet in the office at Kraft Hall last week. I provided my dates for the coming week (this week) and made and received a couple of phone calls. Last Saturday I met with the preaching group and Bob and I talked about what is taking place around St. Thomas and possible ways of “changing up” the preaching both in content and presentation. It was a productive meeting. Yesterday I preached and presided at the first part of the service and the Rev. Karen Buckingham (the locally call priest of St Thomas) celebrated the Eucharist. I believe this is an effective image of shared ministry and it was nice to participate in this sharing of the work of the Lord with others.

St. Luke (Medicine Bow): I received a call from Arlen as they finalize plans for the Bishop visit that is coming up in about two weeks. It was agreed upon that starting at 9am may be a bit early and so they will need to make some slight adjustments. I also heard about a pastoral concern and that person is in my prayers. I am also in the process of calling other people to see if they want to participate in the DiSCtm training that is schedule for this June.

St. James (Encampment): Not much to report this week. I am sure the work on building the parish hall continues to unfold. Given that spring has not made up it mind if it is going to stick around I am sure has a slight impact on start dates. Nevertheless, here is a group that does not get to easily alarmed and I am sure everything is progressing quite nicely in that part of the state.


Ministry Development: I met with three other people last Wednesday to continue the work on visioning the communications throughout the Diocese of Wyoming looking at five to ten years out. I was quite impressed with the use of the VTC and how effective it was to met with two people in Casper, one person in Jackson Hole, and one person in Rawlins almost effortlessly. I can see more meetings like this taking place in the future. This way of gathering is easy on the travel of vehicles, time, and effort and I like it. Again simple.

What is coming up? Tuesday I meet with the Gospel Study group of St. Thomas at 9am. Following that meeting the Rev. Karen Buckingham invited me to sit in on a conversation with a person who is inquiring about the Episcopal Church. Wednesday is an administrative day, however I will not be in Kraft Hall this week. Thursday I head to Casper for a DiSCtm training and a WebEx meeting with the regional reps and ministry developers at 5:30 pm. Friday I will be on a DiSCtm and Discipleship coaching call at 12:30 pm for an hour. Saturday St. Thomas Worship Breakfast takes place at 8:30 am at McDonalds. Sunday I will be preaching and presiding at St. James in Encampment and from there I will head to Jackson Hole for the clergy retreat that will conclude on Tuesday at noon. Have a great week that is simple and transformative.