Fourth Sunday after Pentecost


  • Indulged in a kind and gentle Saturday morning, with a long brisk walk (4+ miles) on a beautiful day in Washington Park, and some straightening around the house.
  • Processed a batch of emails.
  • Packed for an overnight and left around three for Alton, accompanied this time not only by Brenda but by Brenda's dog, Lucy. (This was an experiement born out of slightly unforeseen necessity.)
  • Met Fr David Boase at the Holiday Inn and got settled in our room (with Lucy in her portable kennel). 
  • The banquet in honor of the 175th anniversary of St Paul's Church began at 6:30. Met lots of people, shook lots of hands, posed for lots of pictures. Heard an exemplary after-dinner speech by Bishop Roger White, sometime rector of Alton, and Bishop of Milwaukee during the years I was a seminarian at Nashotah in the late 1980s. One of us, at least, made the other one feel old.
  • This morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel with Bishop and Mrs White, then packed up, checked out, and headed down to St Paul's, where there was a good-size congregation for the single 10:30am liturgy. I celebrated, preached, and blessed some altar linens. (If you must know, Lucy visited the nursery during the service, in her kennel, of course. She was reasonably well-behaved and was actually something of a hit among those who met her.)
  • After coffee hour, we headed toward the tiny town of Hamel, right where Illinois 140 intersects I-55. There I met with Mark Waight, a member of St Michael's, O'Fallon, who will be facilitating a September working retreat for the Department of General Mission Strategy. We strategized today in order to better strategize some more in September. Meanwhile, Brenda and Lucy found a nearby park with shade and a water supply and kept themselves amused. (They are members of a mutual admiration society.)
  • Got home a little after four and chilled out. Tried to go see Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, but, due to a broken projector, the 7:20 showing of that film was thrown under the bus for the sake of Bad Teachers. Go figure. Since Brenda has a rule against ever watching a movie with Cameron Diaz in it, we went back home, made our own popcorn, and watched The International on Netflix.

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