My New Job, Part 2: Church of the Holy Spirit

A few weeks ago, I wrote here that as part of my Omaha Episcopal Service Corps internship, I am working part-time for Repower America. The other major part of my ESC internship is a part-time job at a local Episcopal church, the Church of the Holy Spirit in Bellevue, Nebraska.

I work at CHS three days a week (including Sundays), and my job description is pretty varied. I:

Do some administrative work (answering the phones, proofreading church bulletins, etc.),

Accompany the priest on hospital and home visits and even go on a few of my own,

Help with the youth group,

Serve as an unordained subdeacon in the altar party on Sunday mornings,

Will lead two adult education courses in 2010 – one on spiritual gifts and one I get to design myself,

Occasionally preach (last month would have been my first time if not for the swine flu),

Am helping the Christian ed director plan the Christmas pageant,

Attend and observe various committee meetings (business, finance, worship, vestry, etc.),

Sit in on each Sunday school class at least twice, and

Perform all other duties as assigned.

Examples of this last category have so far included pulling pork for church meals and moving furniture in the Sunday school rooms. I am reminded of the words of our program director, who said every good seminary education should include a course on boiler maintenance.

The goal of this job is to get a feel for parish life for discernment purposes. I’m basically job-shadowing the priest at a suburban church with average Sunday attendance of about 100, many of whom are retired military from nearby Offutt Air Force Base (and when I say nearby, I mean I can hear Reveille and Taps through my office window). With the exception of the large retired military population, the church in many ways reflects most parishes I’ve been a part of in the past: conservative, small, and older. As such, the challenges and experiences aren’t quite what I was expecting nor what the other interns face, but they are still welcome avenues for growth. For example, I'm not a big fan of the main worship space and the music program is fairly limited, but that reminds that God is everywhere and helps me to learn that in ministry, worship is no longer about being fed but about feeding.

I will say this: the people at CHS are some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met. They manage to be both no-nonsense (as the program director says, “There’s no fooling around when you’ve got to get the crops in on time!) and welcoming at the same time. I will walk away in May with fond memories of these people and a positive impression of the Midwest because of them. Even better, working with Father Tom is one of the two highlights of my time here (along with my job at Repower). He’s a retired Air Force Lt. Col. himself, but is also very engaging and a good mentor. He is approaching me and this program with an open and eager mind but also with a sense of purpose. A relatively new priest, his seminary experience is still fresh in his mind, but after nearly three decades in the military, he is well grounded in life’s wisdom. Like I said, he’s a very good mentor and I’m lucky to be here.

I miss New Hampshire, I miss Idaho, and I miss being constantly surrounded by politics and policy, but this is nonetheless a good place for me to be right now. Next year I will almost assuredly be back in DC or New England but with a better understanding of myself and of the world around me.

I Wasn't Home For Homecoming

I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but Dartmouth became home for me. The place, the traditions, the setting - everything. I can never be a student again or involve myself in student life, but that's okay. One day I can return for the setting, the traditions, the lectures, Hop events, and such things.

Dartmouth Night - ie, the Homecoming bonfire - is the second best time of the year, right behind Christmas. I couldn't make it this year, but darn straight I'll be there next year. This video - the Glee Club (which I sang in), the fire, the march - is the next best thing.

My Repower Video

This video was shot for a new project from Repower America called the Repower Wall, documenting videos from thousands of Americans from all walks of life explaining why they support clean energy. You can read about the project and watch clips from Wesley Clark and Bill Nye here, watch my faith-based video below, and watch an even shorter video about the larger project below that.

Congratulations, Brian Prior!

This is a proud day for my home diocese, the Diocese of Spokane. The Rev. Brian Prior, rector of the Church of the Resurrection in Spokane Valley and vice president of the General Convention's House of Deputies, has been elected Bishop of Minnesota. Fr. Brian is one of the most active people in the Diocese and he will be sorely missed, but what an exciting new ministry this is for him! He used to direct Camp Cross, sits on numerous boards and committees, and was mentor to my home parish's last curate. The Diocese of Minnesota is very lucky to have him.

You can read the Episcopal Life Online story about his election here, but on this blog I will excerpt an interview the local paper, the Spokane Spokesman Review (for which I used to write) did with him in July:

My grandparents lost the family business during the Depression. Through this experience my grandfather engrained in me a sense of stewardship: “Take care of it, and it will last forever.” And he embodied the sense of generosity: “You help folks because you never know when you will need help yourself – and you will.” He went on to rebuild his business that was then passed on to two more generations.

They have a mindset that generations have lost. I feel blessed to have and have had both family and professional folks who were scripted during that Depression era.

They’ve consistently asked those questions, whether the market was up or down. Regardless of where the economy is, and many of them are doing fine economically and have consistently done fine, they are just so clear about asking: “Can we reuse that bag? Do we need to buy that? Is there another way?” For me that is at the heart of being good stewards, because it doesn’t matter how much they have, it’s a whole approach to life they take. I’ve gained a lot of wisdom from that.

The Proper Way To Handle Trick-Or-Treaters

A Halloween special from Man in the Box.

Congratulations, Susan Slaughter!

With its former occupants having left their church and diocese behind, the Diocese of Fort Worth is now set to ordain its first female priest! Huzzah! From Episcopal Life Online comes this exciting news:

Thirty-three years after the Episcopal Church approved the ordination of women to the priesthood and to the episcopate, the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, is following suit.

The Rt. Rev. Edwin F. (Ted) Gulick Jr., bishop of Kentucky and provisional bishop of Fort Worth, is set to ordain the Rev. Susan Slaughter to the priesthood on Nov. 15 at St. Luke's in the Meadow Episcopal Church, where she currently serves as deacon...

"It is with a deep sense of awe in the mysterious ways of our Lord that I arrive at this moment," Slaughter said recently. "I am filled with gratitude toward those persons, lay and clergy, who have encouraged and supported me over the years. St. Luke's in the Meadow has been especially supportive and has helped me discern more clearly my true vocation."

The Beauty of the Badlands

While driving from Idaho to Omaha in September, I had the privilege of spending a night camping in South Dakota's Badlands National Park, just outside the Black Hills and about an hour from Rapid City. I rarely journal, but after spending a few hours driving and walking around the buttes in the moonlight, I immediately sat down and wrote. Here's an excerpt from my notebook, as well as the context I wrote for it in last week's sermon before deleting it for brevity. (Picture credit.

***
Being there at night under a full moon and a clear sky is something else – not because it’s pretty, although it is, but because it’s so amazingly spiritual. It’s okay to look out over the buttes, but when you walk down into them and head back a little ways into the wilderness area, it’s like you’ve left the planet. I wrote in my journal that night,

Still struggling to find the right adjectives. It is an uncapturable experience. It was a moment and a place, and such things do not conflate with pen and paper. It was religious, and beautiful in an eery way. It was almost like a moon, but with greenery. And thanks to the owl and crickets, it was so alive! And not a single other person. I had been transported in a way I never had been before. For once, I was glad to be along during a wonderful moment. It was all so ancient, and made me feel safe in an edgy way.

But I was not really alone. I was with God. And the drive back to my campsite a few hours later was something else, too – I had to stop repeatedly for stampeding bison, charging prairie dogs, and a 15-point buck!

There are moments in life – children discovering the joy of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly; pilots, as John Magee says, slipping the surly bonds of earth and joining the tumbling of sun-split clouds; fisherman enjoying the calm tranquility of a still lake; farmers feeling the wise wind of the cornfield on their face or taking in the awesome power of a prairie storm; city slickers walking in a park to escape the grime and the crime – there are moments in life when we know that God loves us not because we see God in our air ducts or our transmissions, but because we feel God in the midst of God’s creation.

***
Here's something I found on YouTube:

Episcopal Churches Stage Events For 350

Great article from the Episcopal News Services about Episcopal Churches getting involved with the 350 International Day of Climate Action, one of the largest political events ever!

Bell ringing, postcard campaigns and community connections will point the way to Copenhagen when congregations join in the International Day of Climate Action this Saturday, October 24.

Organized by the 350.org campaign, this year's annual celebration will call for a fair climate treaty when world leaders gather in Copenhagen in December. Three hundred fifty parts per million is considered to be the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in earth's atmosphere.

Episcopal congregations have marked the day in previous years by ringing steeple bells 350 times. This year, Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, and Mary Evelyn Tucker of the Forum on Religion and Ecology are urging greater participation by religious congregations.

Tyler Edgar of the National Council of Churches' Eco-justice unit points out that it is important for the United States to be committed to reducing its own greenhouse gas emissions if it is to be effective in Copenhagen.

My New Job, Part 1: Repower Nebraska

I mentioned a few months ago that I’m spending this year in Omaha, Nebraska working for the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection’s Episcopal Service Corps program. This program consists of three main components: spiritual direction, an internship at a local Episcopal church, and volunteer work at a local non-profit. I’ve been here for six weeks and the different components of this new job are now all in place. I’d like to devote a post each to my parish placement and to my non-profit placement.

For my volunteer work, I am helping out at Repower Nebraska as their faith outreach coordinator. Repower Nebraska is the local chapter of Repower America, the group Al Gore started with his Nobel Peace Prize money to advocate the passage of clean energy legislation. My job here is to coordinate with different faith groups around the state and work to address the spiritual and Scriptural issues surrounding climate change. I don’t know what I can and can’t say publicly about Repower Nebraska – they may not pay me (the Church of the Resurrection does that) but I am still going to respect whatever communication protocols and chain-of-command they may have regarding blogs and the like. When I worked for Senator Baucus, I wasn’t allowed to even say so online, so I’m going to be cautious and leave it here for now. I will say, though, that this is a really important cause and I am excited to be here!

For more on the Christian perspective surrounding climate change, please see a sermon I wrote and posted last weekend and take a look at this upcoming seminar from GreenFaith. A good resource from the Episcopal Diocese of Omaha is Green Sprouts.

Anglican Communion Stories About Climate Change

The Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS), a sometimes-updated online service of Lambeth Palace, has had two interesting stories about Christian involvement in climate change issues this month. The first, dated October 12, was titled simply, "A Statement from the Anglican Communion Environmental Network," and the second, from October 14, was called, "Act local as well as national urges Archbishop of Canterbury."

An excerpt from the Environmental Network statement:

We look to the Copenhagen conference with hope but also with realism... there must be a desire on the part of every nation to do what they know they must, not because they are legally bound, but because they share a vision for a more just and sustainable future... We pray that each nation will come to the conference wanting the highest level outcome; that demanding targets will be set, not in an attempt to discipline reluctant participants, or to give some preferential treatment which undermines the whole; but that a greater vision might be shared...

Our faith and our ancestors have always taught us that the earth is our mother and deserves respect; we know that this respect has not been given. We know that like a mother the earth will continue to give its all to us. However, we also know that we are now demanding more than it is able to provide. Science confirms what we already know, our human footprint is changing the face of the earth and because we come from the earth, it is changing us too.

And an excerpt from the story about the Most Rev. Williams:

In a lecture today at Southwark Cathedral (sponsored by the Christian environmental group Operation Noah) Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, sets out a Christian vision of how people can respond to the looming environmental crisis. Beginning with the story of Noah and the Flood, Dr Williams highlights the “burden of responsibility for what confronts us here and now as a serious crisis and challenge”. Our relationship with the rest of creation is intimately bound up with our relationship with God. The Bible offers “an ethical perspective based on reverence for the whole of life”. “To act so as to protect the future of the non-human world is both to accept a God-given responsibility and, appropriately, to honour the special dignity given to humanity itself.”