It may be because I drank too much iced tea when we ate dinner last night with the volunteers who are staying at the church this week, or because of physical aches and pains that sent me to the medicine cabinet a few minutes ago for a couple of Advil, but it is 4 am and I’m wide awake – which is really quite rare for me.
At any rate, my mind is racing, thinking about what I will say in my sermon this Sunday as we observe the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. I’m already thinking of this as a ‘special news broadcast’ in the middle of the 'regular programming' of the season of Pentecost – the many, many Sundays of green! I’m not sure yet what I will say, but as the sermon is beginning to take shape in my mind, I find myself looking back over the schedule for the last few weeks…
The last Sunday I preached here ‘at home’ – the last Sunday I even worshipped here ‘at home’! - was a month ago on Pentecost! Even though I have been very much on duty and at work for the last few weeks, many members of the congregation haven’t seen me, because I have been away the past three Sundays. This is what much of this year has been like.
After worshipping here on Pentecost, Ray and I were both out of town for three days, giving LDR presentations in another area of the state. We returned home overnight, to unpack, do laundry, and repack before traveling to the synod assembly. We were both away at the synod assembly on Trinity Sunday.
The following Sunday, I was assigned to preach at another congregation ‘over the bay,’ so I traveled on Sunday morning to worship and preach at both of the services of another congregation in this conference.
Last week, Ray and I split the travels. He traveled early in the week to give two more LDR presentations in the northern part of the state, while I traveled over the weekend to Hickory, North Carolina to attend the annual gathering of the NC Synodical Women’s Organization of the Women of the ELCA. It was a joy to join many of my friends for worship and study and fellowship at that event. I was able to thank the women's group personally for all their support of my seminary studies. (see my last post!) I also had responsibilities, as I presented two workshop sessions on our experience working and volunteering on the Gulf coast, providing information for those who might want to help organize groups from their congregations to come and volunteer.
These past four weeks have flown by, filled with a variety of activities for LDR and within the congregation, and this week, I’ll be back in the pulpit again here. Guess I’d better try again to go back to sleep now – I’ve got a sermon to work on later!
Friday, June 22, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
June udpate
I know we have been very bad about updating the blog - just so much going on. Here is the article that I wrote for the July newsletters at both our home congregation and our seminary partner congregation. It will give you an idea of what the past few weeks have been like and wat we will be up to for the next couple of weeks.
It is time again for another installment of “Internship with Ray and Ruth Ann.” This time, though, Ruth Ann is out of town, so don’t blame her for anything I write.
We are beginning wind down mode at our internship site, but in some ways it feels more like windup mode. We are still doing Congregational Preparedness presentations for LDR, but we are trying to only finish the ones we have scheduled and then pass this job along to someone else. Winding down means a lot of presentations in the past few weeks. I have traveled over 1000 miles doing presentations in the past week, and Ruth Ann spent the weekend in Hickory, North Carolina presenting for the NC WELCA annual meeting.
In fact, we have traveled so much that we had to send our dog off for his summer vacation. Smokey spent the last few weeks with our daughter so we could travel without having to find someone to keep up with him. Now that we are down to a couple of presentations, Smokey is on his way home, traveling back with Ruth Ann. We will just about get settled in a routine, and then it will be time to pack and move.
The difficult part of winding down internship will be saying goodbyes. We have already heard members of the congregation here talk about missing us, and we still have a few weeks. I am sure we will hear a lot more of this as we closer to July 29th, which will be our last Sunday. We will certainly miss them, as well.
In the meantime, our supervising pastor is on vacation, and it is time to see if we have really learned anything in the past 10 months. For three weeks, Ruth Ann and I will preach, lead worship, visit shut-ins, make hospital visits, and anything else that comes up (plus 2 more presentations). Our supervisor is only a phone call away, and we certainly have pastors in the area that would help us out, but for the most part, we are on our own – a chance to see what our future ministry might look like.
We are very grateful for this year – all we have learned and the many experiences we have had. We are very much ready to go back to seminary, though. Not because we want to leave here, but because we are ready to finish seminary and be in our first call. In the meantime, I just have to remember where I put all those boxes…
It is time again for another installment of “Internship with Ray and Ruth Ann.” This time, though, Ruth Ann is out of town, so don’t blame her for anything I write.
We are beginning wind down mode at our internship site, but in some ways it feels more like windup mode. We are still doing Congregational Preparedness presentations for LDR, but we are trying to only finish the ones we have scheduled and then pass this job along to someone else. Winding down means a lot of presentations in the past few weeks. I have traveled over 1000 miles doing presentations in the past week, and Ruth Ann spent the weekend in Hickory, North Carolina presenting for the NC WELCA annual meeting.
In fact, we have traveled so much that we had to send our dog off for his summer vacation. Smokey spent the last few weeks with our daughter so we could travel without having to find someone to keep up with him. Now that we are down to a couple of presentations, Smokey is on his way home, traveling back with Ruth Ann. We will just about get settled in a routine, and then it will be time to pack and move.
The difficult part of winding down internship will be saying goodbyes. We have already heard members of the congregation here talk about missing us, and we still have a few weeks. I am sure we will hear a lot more of this as we closer to July 29th, which will be our last Sunday. We will certainly miss them, as well.
In the meantime, our supervising pastor is on vacation, and it is time to see if we have really learned anything in the past 10 months. For three weeks, Ruth Ann and I will preach, lead worship, visit shut-ins, make hospital visits, and anything else that comes up (plus 2 more presentations). Our supervisor is only a phone call away, and we certainly have pastors in the area that would help us out, but for the most part, we are on our own – a chance to see what our future ministry might look like.
We are very grateful for this year – all we have learned and the many experiences we have had. We are very much ready to go back to seminary, though. Not because we want to leave here, but because we are ready to finish seminary and be in our first call. In the meantime, I just have to remember where I put all those boxes…
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Hello, Huricane Season!
May has been a very busy month. VOAD meetings and conferences, synod assemblies, Congregational Preparedness presentations, getting ready for hurricane season, and on top of that – a wedding.
Hurricane season is officially here, with the second named Atlantic storm bringing much needed rain to Florida and Georgia. The arrival of hurricane season has also boosted our activities. More presentations and related activity in May than in other months, plus more travel, has kept us away from home many nights. June looks to be just as busy, except for the wedding.
About the wedding – our son was married in May, which also took a few days out of our schedule. The wedding was outdoors, and was wonderful. I’ll get a picture posted later.
We are currently in Atlanta at the Southeastern Synod Assembly (www.elca-ses.org) with our Lutheran Disaster Response display. We are here as seminary interns, as well as displaying for LDR.
In addition to the various things we are doing, here are links to a couple of articles that have been written by other people about things we are doing or are involved in.
Article about a group that worked here - http://www.thecolumbiastar.net/news/2007/0525/Education/017.html
Interview with Ruth Ann about Congregational Preparedness - http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/religion/070526/disaster.shtml
That is all for now. More presentations to schedule and miles to drive as we wind down our internship. By the end of July, we will have preached another 6 or 8 sermons, presented to another dozen or so congregations, and begun packing to move back to seminary.
Hurricane season is officially here, with the second named Atlantic storm bringing much needed rain to Florida and Georgia. The arrival of hurricane season has also boosted our activities. More presentations and related activity in May than in other months, plus more travel, has kept us away from home many nights. June looks to be just as busy, except for the wedding.
About the wedding – our son was married in May, which also took a few days out of our schedule. The wedding was outdoors, and was wonderful. I’ll get a picture posted later.
We are currently in Atlanta at the Southeastern Synod Assembly (www.elca-ses.org) with our Lutheran Disaster Response display. We are here as seminary interns, as well as displaying for LDR.
In addition to the various things we are doing, here are links to a couple of articles that have been written by other people about things we are doing or are involved in.
Article about a group that worked here - http://www.thecolumbiastar.net/news/2007/0525/Education/017.html
Interview with Ruth Ann about Congregational Preparedness - http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/religion/070526/disaster.shtml
That is all for now. More presentations to schedule and miles to drive as we wind down our internship. By the end of July, we will have preached another 6 or 8 sermons, presented to another dozen or so congregations, and begun packing to move back to seminary.
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