Letters to the Churches of Carbon County and Beyond

All is well in Carbon County! Well the Wasingers have completed a full week of Fair. Thank you for all who were supportive of the activities. During the Livestock Sale I was taken aback by how connected we are to one another. It was fun to see familiar faces throughout the Fair Grounds and most of them were from out of town. I have often been the force that attempted to “slow down” the activities, however this year I jumped in with both feet and everything worked out. Everybody is now recovering and moving toward a new part of the year that does not include getting up early in the morning to go feed animals. This has misplaced us. Enough about me and my family. It is time to move to reading about what is taking place throughout Carbon County.

I started my Sunday morning at St. James in Encampment. When I arrived the sacristy has been removed and a new foundation for the parish hall has been poured. What was ironic was the door was nailed shut to keep people out but it kept us in. It was noted that several times somebody tried to go into that now non-existent room. Good thing that the general contractor was thinking ahead. It was one of those quiet blessings, but St. James now has music and it was fun to watch how the selection of music was created as the service unfolded. The organist was able to make her selections based on the mood of the service. When I first arrived at St. James in Encampment the only singing we had was done without music. Now this church has a new parish hall and lively singing. Everything is a go for Region's 4 Church in the Park next Sunday starting a noon.

I arrived at St. Barnabas in Saratoga on Sunday evening for a service. This was their second service for the day since they held Morning Prayer that morning. We didn't have music, yet we sung during the service. During the Prayers of the People a bowl of sand was set up with candles around it. There was an invitation for people to come up and light a candle and put in the bowl in the spirit of prayer. It was a nice way to slow down the Prayers of the People and to invite everybody to be a bit more intentional about what they were praying about. Good idea.

I don't have much to report about St. Luke's in Medicine Bow. I do understand that the members from that congregation are planning on attending the Church in the Park next Sunday and given the number of people attending, St. James made adjustments on what St. Luke should be bringing. On another front, Arlen's preaching discernment is coming along quite nicely.

Last Wednesday's ice cream social at St. Thomas went well. At the event the Ministry Role Description of a priest was presented. There was one minor change that was made in the introduction. Now it is up for other people of St. Thomas to let myself or a vestry member know if they have any further comments, questions, or affirmations they may have about the MRD. It is my intention to give this work the the vestry for their official support. Yesterday (Saturday August 13th) I met with the worship team during breakfast and they made plans for the month of September and reviewed an up-coming duel baptism.

Because of Fair Week I stayed close to Rawlins and did not travel this week. Nevertheless I was in contact with Linda Fleming in the LSRV and we talked about planning a Safeguarding God's Children Training for the coming month. Dates are not set as of yet, but they will be soon. I also got to see members of St. Paul's on the Fair Grounds during the week and they provided words of encouragement and support in spite of not having Kellie's breakfast burritos and cinnamon rolls on sale. I received a report that Linda's sermon received applause from the congregation. I read Linda's sermon and it was good. Who is in and who is out? With God everybody is in! Now that is preaching!


I end my posting with a small explanation of what this letter is about. This weekly letter is to provide information and a means of connecting the different communities of Carbon County. In some ways people discover that they are really that much different from one another even though we live miles apart. It makes coming together easier because we are more aware of what each of us are doing from a week to week basis.

What is coming up this week? Monday I will meet with Vonnie to prepare the service bulletin for the coming church service at 9 am at Kraft Hall. Monday afternoon I head to LRSV for their Summer Bible Cafe. Wednesday I will be having office hours at Kraft Hall from 9am to 12pm. At 2pm I will be on a WebEx meeting with the Attractive Church group that starts at 2pm. Sunday I will be in Encampment for the Church in the Park starting at noon. Talk to you soon.