Many Worships

This semester is certainly keeping me busy!  A lot has happened since I last wrote, which is why this blog is so late.

Two weekends ago I drove down to Nashville to meet my parents and trade cars with them. I was glad to have my car back after a month, and the drive was actually fairly pleasant. I listened to a book on tape while I was driving, and I enjoyed seeing the trees which were turning for fall. My parents had a longer drive, and I know doing it two days in a row was rough, so I am very grateful to them for meeting with me there.

My classes this semester are still going fantastically, and it's funny that they are not my biggest concern most of the time. Part of that is probably because I really enjoy them, so I'm comfortable with the time I do spend on them, and the other part is that I simply have so many other things going on. In preaching class, I'll be giving my first sermon in just over a week, and I'm looking forward to it, despite the fact that I'm struggling with the text. Here's praying that the Holy Spirit will make an intervention in time. (from my discussions with other preachers, this is a frequent prayer)

Aside from my schoolwork, my biggest commitment continues to be my job as sacristan. I love nearly every minute of it, and I think I'm learning a lot in the job. Last week was Trinity Days, which meant a lot of work for a beautiful worship service. I may have sent nearly 100 emails on Monday alone. I finished my twelve yard long banners in time, and they added beautifully to Gloria Dei. We had a lovely eucharist service on Wednesday put on by Bexley Hall, which made me think back to my times at Saint Andrews in college. I was a crucifer and lector for that service, and I was honored to be asked to help lead. Thursday we had a service that included a fire bowl - my first experience with that - and it turned out wonderfully. It always makes me happy as a sacristan when I plan and plan and then the opening song begins and everyone walks out in the procession, and then I cannot do anything more. When it all goes well, as it always does, I am proud to have been a part of that work.

After the busy-ness of the Trinity days worship, I was able to just enjoy the rest of it. We had a lecture about Pentecostalism for our main lecture, and it was really interesting to consider a tradition so different from ours and see what there may be to learn from that. I also went to the student/alumni football game and got some knitting done. Thursday evening, I was invited by my friend Mechelle to participate in the rituals of Rosh Hashana which was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Altogether, I got to experience a lot of faith over the weekend!

On Sunday, I was finally able to sit down with Bonnie, my MIC supervisor, over lunch and plan out my year at All Saints. I will preach several times, teach sixth grade confirmation, attend church council meetings, continue to assist at worship, and begin a pastoral care relationship with one of the congregants there. I am looking forward to all of this, although I am also a little nervous. I hope that I will continue to be able to grow in my abilities as a pastor during this year here.

This week, I'm feeling pretty well on my feet, and I'm looking forward to next week as an ease in my time as sacristan, since it will be Bexley Hall's worship week the whole week. And then the week after that is fall break, which is hard to imagine! That will be an especially good week, as I will be having my endorsement interview on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday I will be heading to Oklahoma to spend some time with Silas, including celebrating our third-year anniversary! I cannot wait for that.

It's a busy semester, but it is full of good things, and I am looking forward to the rest of it! I'll write here again soon.

Fourth Week Already

So here I am halfway through my fourth week of this semester of seminary, and I am surprised that I am already here. It's going exceptionally well, but I think this year is going to go by fast.

I love all of my classes this semester, preaching and systematic theology probably the most. Preaching is great because it's a class that involves practice rather than just theory, which is one of the things I love in ministry. Systematic theology is fantastic, because it is exciting to finally be learning the ins and outs of faith and beginning to be able to develop and argue theological points so that I know my faith better than before. I'm already planning on taking at least one and maybe two more systematic classes in upcoming semesters, and I can hardly wait for any of them.

I am also thoroughly enjoying my job as sacristan. Sometimes it means responding to emails about the next days service at 11:00 at night, but it is a very rewarding job, since I love being part of worship in this way. Right now I am working on sewing several red banners for the sanctuary during our big Trinity Days service next week, and I am so happy that two things I love, sewing and worship, get to come together. And George and I are learning to get along okay when I'm sewing so he won't try to attack the projects.

Silas was in town a little over a week ago, and it was wonderful to have him back up here (he hadn't been since February!). We made gumbo for friends, watched old episodes of Doctor Who, and went down to Cincinnati to visit Hofbrauhaus and watch the Cardinals beat the Reds. I love those weekends, even if they do get me a little off my homework schedule, and I am basically caught up now.

My next really big event is my endorsement panel, which is coming right up. I'm scheduling it now, and I am hoping that my nerves won't hike up too much leading up to it. I had a great conversation with my candidacy coordinator this past summer, so I am trying to look at it with excitement, rather than trepidation.

Now that I am almost a month into the semester, I am beginning to feel settled. Worship is almost going at a regular pace, which I think may be all I can expect with that, I'm figuring out how much work my classes will take, and I might even eventually find time for crafting and whatnot. For now, I'm about to head off to my Lutheran Confessions class, but I imagine my blogs will become more regular now that I am more settled. Goodbye for now!