Wednesday (St Ambrose of Milan)

  • Usual morning routine.
  • Upon arrival in the office, seized a moment of kairos and wrote a blog post about the season of Advent.
  • Spent forty minutes on the phone with the investment adviser for the Putnam Trust, which provides significant income to two of our congregations, and of which the Bishop of Springfield is one of two trustees (the other being Bank of America). This was a routine year-end review.
  • Publicized the appointment of the Archdeacon as Intake Officer under Title IV canons (clergy discipline). Any incidents of clergy misconduct (perish the thought) should be reported promptly and directly to him to begin the process.
  • Fleshed out a draft of a homily for Advent IV (December 18th at St Barnabas', Havana).
  • Took a phone call from one of our rectors with a liturgical question. I am, after all, a certified liturgy geek.
  • Lunch at the Sangamo Club with Dean Brodie. We discussed an array of topics having to do both with the cathedral and the diocese.
  • Conceived and hatched a homily for Christmas Eve at St Paul's Cathedral.
  • Walked downtown to do a couple of personal errands ... and rack up some steps on the pedometer.
  • Emailed the rector of a parish with a visitation later this month.
  • Evening Prayer in the cathedral.
  • After a stop at home for a bite to eat, hit the road to Carlinville for a meeting with the vestry of St Paul's. This was to discuss a role I am inviting them to play in connection with the emerging strategic mission vision of the diocese. Home around 10.

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