"after GOEs"

That's my stock reply to anything anyone asks me lately. "Hey, can you..." "Will you be available..." "Do you want to..."

After GOEs, dearie. Whatever it is, it can wait.

My future doesn't go past January 6th. What are my plans? No idea. I'll think about that later. Don't ask me about details, and good heavens don't ask me to schedule anything.

home

Well, we made it back from MN in tact, if a little heavier. I wanted to tell you about the other things we saw on the trip in previous entries, but it was a very busy visit, and there wasn't time.

On the way there we spent the night at The Great Wolf Lodge. That's the themed resort in the Wisconsin Dells I told you about in a previous entry. It was like spending the night at the Kittery Trading Post: aggressively woody. It's an all-inclusive family resort along the lines of a Disney experience. The whole strip off the highway is littered with themed resorts. We could have stayed in Medieval land, Dinosaur land, or Polynesian land, or whatever was further down the road, but The Great Wolf Lodge is visible from the highway. It was quite a classy place I must say. Yes, I went down the water slides. What fun! I'd do it again. It's very family friendly (for future reference), and very safe -- there were two lifeguards for every water slide.

This had to be the least stressful Christmas to date. There was only one child meltdown -- but that was because her sleep cycle was interrupted and she was overtired anyways -- in my book that doesn't count. All the kids were great, all the grown-ups were great, much fun, good food, thoughtful gifts, pleasant weather. Pleasant weather that is, unless you had your heart set on three feet of snow, then it was just okay.

While we were there I saw a bald eagle flying. It was so cool! I've never seen one in the wild before. Kathryn and Jeff said it was a good omen for me and the upcoming GOEs. Then Kathryn saw another one on the ride home, then another one later on. Kathryn is convinced it's my spirit guide come to be with me during testing. She might be right. I wonder if that's where I got those feathers from last summer when I was feeling like Dumbo needing a feather to fly, and I came across three.

The story of an eagle as my spirit guide is a story for another time. For now, it's back to reading. I'm brushing up on ethics for the next two days.

Happy Christmas!

Christmas morning on the farm. Dianne has prepared the dining room for a formal breakfast. The rest of the family will arrive soon, but not in time for breakfast. We'll get to the gifts when they get here. The 4 year old is being very patient while we wait for breakfast and family before getting to the presents. Later today Jeff and I will go riding. That's when I'll phone my sister Claudia from the saddle to gloat. Claudia loves horses even more than I do -- if you can imagine that. Roz is so happy to be here. She's still afraid of the horses, but she loves to run around free. Yesterday Jeff took her and their black lab Molly across the street to check in on the neighbor's house. Roz decided she didn't want to be that far away from us so she walked herself back. Good dog. Roz and I went for a morning walk and we found that the fire circle is all ready to go for tonight. I think we're having Brandy Alexanders instead of scotch this year. So: presents, family, big meals, riding, and fire circle are on the schedule for today. I'll chat with Trish later this afternoon and we'll exchange Christmas stories from Boston and Minnesota. There's a great bustling in the kitchen as breakfast is almost ready.

Happy Christmas to all.

on dasher, on dancer...

Kathryn and I leave for the farm later today. It's a MN Christmas this year. I'm told they have snow in Canon Falls. Chicago has had nothing but rain for most of the cold weather season. Ah well.

This year we're departng from tradition and stopping about half-way to the farm. We made reservations at a resort in the Dells. The Dells is/are Wisconsin's vacation spot. We've only ever driven by it, but from what I can gather at 70 mph, it's a series of themed water park resorts near the highway. There are many bright-coloured tubes that wind all around with corkscrews and elbows, through which small children are flushed. They also have hot tubs.

We'll exchange our gifts at the hotel over a nice dinner tonight.

We're bringing the camera, so maybe more farm pix. I'll visit the hen house and collect eggs for breakfast. Jeff will saddle up the horses at some point; might get a Christmas morning ride. Dianne will be serving Brandy Alexanders at the Christmas evening fire circle. There'll be lots of food and family. We'll share the same stories about Christmasses past. The nephews and nieces will have grown so much -- ohmigosh, they might get to sit at the big table. It will be hectic, busy, noisy, and crowded. Children will get overtired and wail. It will be too beautiful to stay inside, but too darned cold to go out for long. It will feel like we just got there when it's time to leave. There will be a "Minnesota long-goodbye" that will take several hours. We'll leave an hour later than we plan.

It will be a good Christmas.

one foot on the gas, one foot in the grave

Finally my schedule has allowed me the time to do those important little things that get put off in the name of academia. I have to get my drivers license changed to IL today. Last week I went to the library to get a copy of the little book they use for the written test. Ah yes, I remember the days of driver ed in high school. The movie with the gory traffic accident scenes, the shameful and tragic result of drinking and driving, was my fav (big surprise there, right?). I remember my instructor sat in the back seat during the road test. As I was backing up for the three-point-turn he gave me the "stop now" sign when he thought we were close enough to the curb to stop and shift into drive to complete the maneuver. Since then I've invented the two-point-turn. It's a much more efficient way of turning 180 degrees. I passed my road test on the first try, though there was the issue of supposedly contacting the curb on a right-hand turn which I dispute to this very day. My instructor gave me the "stop now" sign again when I took issue with the tester over that one. There's a reason why in Massachusetts they're called "the angry DMV gods." I'm sure the kind staff at the IL DMV will be much nicer. Since my MA license is still valid I don't think I'll have to take a road test. But here's the major faux pas on my part: I'm scheduled with my stylist for Thursday! I think I have enough product to pull off a good photo shoot. If not it'll be another good reason not to get pulled over.

hhmmmm....

I've been thinking about church planting and I'm wondering if it's the right thing to do at this time. I've got a lot of energy around that sort of ministry, but given the state of the church in contracting mode these days, I'm having second thoughts about it. With the number of small, struggling and yoked parishes, it might be a smarter idea to put resources into strengthening these places before we go running off to start new churches. In some ways I can see new church planting as a cop-out. For example: "x" churches are dwindling, we dont' know how to fix them, so lets cut our loses and start over. From a business standpoint, declaring bankrupcy and starting over is a viable strategy. For churches, the "loses" we cut are people. That doesn't sit right with me. If we call one of our parishes bankrupt, what are we saying about the rest of the church? I've seen new church plants begun within an already established congregation. A Baptist church in TX had a small 8:00 crowd -- aging, shrinking. They decided to offer a later Sunday service aimed at a college-age demographic. The church flourished with two completely different groups. They had occasional joint services so that each group could get to know the other, but it was never more than cordial. They had nothing in common, didn't care to, and were happy with their different and separate worship communities. Maybe this is what new church planting should be, not finding a new space and starting from scratch. Maybe a new church plant is an idea or mode of operation, and not brick and mortar.

must... do... something...

It's Thursday, almost 11:30. I've done next to nothing today. Sure I had an excuse on Monday: I had to finish an essay. That took all day, and the better part of the evening. Tuesday's excuse was the meeting with the bishop. I could have been more productive with my time when I got home, but I decided I needed a cocktail -- with friends -- in several places. Yesterday I worked a little at my work-study gig, went for a walk, tidied my desk a little. Really I did nothing. Kathryn pointed out that I said I'd do the laundry, get my drivers license changed to IL, and something else. I have no excuse for Wednesday. Today's not looking any better. I have a ton of stuff to do! I've got to continue to prep for GOEs, the floor needs swiffering, the laundry still needs doing, and it's almost lunch time. I don't like it that classes end so abruptly. I ramp up for the finish: final exams, final papers, final presentations -- and then it's like *poof* organization, scheduling and structure are gone. It's hard for me to switch gears like that to my own schedule. Christmas travel looms close, GOE's follow soon after, deadlines for a couple independent projects come up in mid-January, and three art projects that I want to do for gifts, are all on my to do list. I can see all the deadlines coming, but I can't seem to get it together.

update

Yesterday I had my meeting with Bishop Purcell and Canon to the Ordinary Hayachi. This is the next step in the process for ordination. I managed to get the first meeting time slot. I reasoned a strategic value to going first, somehow I think I can set the bar in my favor with a strong first impression. Of course I could be wrong.

They wanted to know about my Roman Catholic background and how I came to the Episcopal Church. Naturally they wanted to know what happened in Massachusetts. *sigh* It's such an unsatisfying story to tell. They wanted to know what my strengths are. I told them I have many strengths and gifts, and described a few. The Bishop wanted to know how I've used those strengths at seminary. They asked why I want to be ordained when we believe in the priesthood of all believers, and that ministry can take many forms. I talked about my interest in church planting, and how I feel that I can best respond to my call as an ordained person. The Bishop seems to have had some negative experiences with new church plants in the past and is hesitant to jump into that proposition again. I don't blame him. He described a plant into which thousands of dollars were poured, how he himself went door to door to invite people, how the local newspapers were called in to cover it, and how it didn't flourish as expected. I asked him what kind of demographic homework had been done. It sounded like they were using second-hand information. I quelled the massive temptation to take the case apart and assess it. I also talked about the work I'm doing with the Youth Group and with Canterbury NU (Northwestern's Episcopal campus ministry), as a branch idea of church planting. They pointed out that more and more parishes are unable to afford a full-time rector and that having a second job was becoming the norm. I said that I was aware of that reality, and that if I begin my career as a part-timer, I certainly have no intention of staying that way. If it takes working a little smarter to increase people and/or money so that I can enjoy one job with all the benefits, then that's what I intend to do. I don't want to work two jobs. They were curious about my theatre background. I told them about one of the cooler ideas that came from VT: high concept-low tech. The mainstage got the lion's share of the budget, leaving the lion's share of the productions to the near-budgetless studio space. By carefully designing the staging to get the maximum information and transformation value over the course of the production, audiences didn't miss that we never used robotic lighting, or had a flashy Broadway-styled show. High concept-low tech is something that can be used in more than just theatre. Finally, they asked me if I had any questions. I asked them what they thought the church would look like in five years. The Canon said it was kind of like the things I was talking about (what I've decribed here and more). The Bishop was less specific.

We talked about many other things. These are just some of the highlights. I was a little nervous at first, but once we got going I was relaxed. I tried to show them a balanced, well-rounded person, a strong leader, a person of integrity, motivation, and intelligence. I didn't smile too much. Jane told me not to smile too much. Jane and I talked when I got home. She thinks they'd be crazy not to take me in as a postulant, but we did briefly discuss what I'd do if they didn't. They gave no indication of whether I'd be invited to the weekend in February, so I'll just have to wait and see.

rock on youth group

The bake sale went waaaay beyond what I'd envisioned. I set out one table for the goodies -- we needed to set out a second. I told them I hoped to draw in about $100 -- we took in over $200. I wanted a minimum of leftovers -- we sold out. Wow! You should have seen the fabulously decorated cookies. Someone made pumpkin bread AND had a separate container of cream cheese frosting to go with it. The brownies were outstanding. Someone else brought cupcakes that looked awesome. We had cornbread muffins, and miniature chocolate chip cookies, and sugar cookies, and spiced cookies, and ohmigosh it all looked so good! It was a delight to the eye and the nose. I suppose it was a superdelight to taste, but everything sold out before I had a chance to buy anything. The Group were expert salespeople, too.

A BIG shout out to the St. Matthew's Youth Group -- and to the St. Matthew's community, without whose help we couldn't have done it.

I want to showcase the Group to the congregation. Might not be able to do it next week because of the pageant. But it will happen. They did a tremendous job.

and the children shall lead them (Isa 11:6)

Tomorrow is the big day at St. Matthew's. The Youth Group is having their first fund-raiser/bake sale to raise money for Dress for Success. A few weeks ago I had a check-in session with them and they said they wanted to do a project. We tossed around a few ideas and I mentioned the UN Milennium Development Goals. We looked over the goals, which the parish, along with the wider Episcopal Church, has adopted as part of our mission focus. They are printed on the cover of the Sunday service bulletin for the entire congregation to notice. The parish has also made a huge banner that spans the width of the worship space with the goals on them. The Youth decided to start with "Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women," and apply it to our local community. I heard a spot on the radio (NPR?) for Dress for Success and presented that organization to the Youth Group as a possible avenue for addressing that paticular MDG. They loved the idea. I contacted the founder and CEO, and we're a GO for this project. She said that other groups (Eagle Scout candidates) have focused their community service projects with them with great success. She'll list the names of the Youth Group on their web site when we're done. I'm hoping to use this encounter with DFS as a possible beginning of a longer term relationship. Along with helping this very important organization, we're also going to try to do a consciousness-raising campaign for this, and the other MDGs for the entire St. Matthew's community. We're looking at Heifer International as a possible next target for the Mighty Youth Group. (Hmmm... I think the Youth Group needs a better name than "youth group." How 'bout: The Mighty St. Mattie's? Or maybe: Yowza Yowza Youth Group? A little help here. Anyone... anyone?)

Now I must admit I've never done anything like this before. I feel like I'm feeling my way around in the dark a lot. There have been a couple logistical glitches with this project that in hind-sight could have been avoided. It isn't anything that hasn't been terribly noticed as far as I can tell. I've missed a few opportunities to advertise to the rest of the congregation what the Youth Group has been doing. I may be able to salvage that for this project. Definitely it'll be a major focus on the next one. That was one of the things that I wanted to do at the beginning of my work with the Youth. It's hard when seminary takes up so much of my time. Next quarter I'll have more time to give to my field ed, and things like that won't slip past me. There's a learnig curve here, but I think it's going to be a short one. The next project, what ever it will be, will go a lot smoother than this one. Not that this hasn't been smooth. You know me: always room for improvement.

-E!

D-O-N-E.

That is to say, done with the Seabury-Western academic quarter. The fun continues with two more essays to write for the Diocese, two exegetical papers, two sermons, a CV, and something else I can't remember, but have it written down somewhere. Then of course, the perdurable GOE prep.

Also, I just got off the phone with the Bishop's assistant. I have a date to meet with him and the Canon to the Ordinary next Tuesday at 3:00. This would be the next step in the process of applying for Postulancy. I got first time slot that was available. Time to get my game on.

Later tonight there's a shin-dig to celebrate the end of the Michaelmas (that would be seminary-ese for "Fall") Quarter. I've taken a liking to cognac. I tried some at Thanksgiving. I might have just a scoach to toast a successful quarter.

two down, one to go

Anglican Worship final paper: "Prayers for the New Reality: How Prayers Reflect a Changing American Society" -- CHECK.

Study for tomorrow's final exam in Anglican Worship, and this quarter is D-O-N- ..... wait for it, wait for it....

one down two to go

Just finished my Canon Law final. It was actually fun to do. I've got to study for another final in Anglican Worship and finish the paper by then too. But first a power nap.

winter wonderland

I know, I know... where have I been? After Thanksgiving there's only two weeks left to the quarter and I've been going flat out since then. It ain't over yet either! I've still got two final exams and a big paper due. And that's just for school. The Diocese of Chicago made some changes to the postulancy application process that meant more work for me to do. I think I told you about that already. Well I managed to get all three of my clergy interviews done this week. They were great interviews, very inspiring, energizing, and really interesting, but it took a big chunk of energy out of me to get them done. Being the very goal-oriented person I am I was hoping to get the interviews, the preaching scholarship work, class work, plus a whole lot more done before the end of the quarter. I've re-prioritized.

Then it snowed.

You know how much I like the first snowfall. This was a good first snow, too. As I was doing my security rounds I found some really neat photo ops. So, yeah, I've been quiet for a few days, but maybe this will make up for it.


















Just after dawn.



















View from the front door.



















Someone put Christmas lights on the evergreen outside the main entrance. You can just barely make out the base of the steeple above. A picture just a half-hour earlier might have given the steeple a lighter sky background to contrast it.














Don't forget to bring in your bike before it snows. Too late.


















Spooky-looking house at night.


I've got a bunch of other really neat night shots, but they need doctoring. These came out the best. I've never used the digital camera for night work before, so it might take a bit more playing. The moon is waxing tonight so the light will get better so long at it stays clear. More later if they turn out better.