Tuesday

  • Surveyed the 80 possibilities in this week's task queue and selected 12 for possible accomplishment today. Eventually crossed off eight, with four kicked down the road.
  • Brief catch-up with the Archdeacon, after both of us have been absent from the office for a while.
  • Morning Prayer in the cathedral.
  • Since so much of my ministry requires automobile travel, the dioceses purchases, owns, and maintains the YBNBmobile. The current iteration, a 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe, has accumulated nearly 80,000 miles on the odometer, so the Treasurer informed me a few weeks ago that it's time to start looking. (He socks away a certain amount each year toward this purpose.) If I had the sort of staff that some of my colleagues in other (larger) dioceses have, I could say to one of my minions, "Please go buy a car for me." But, alas, I have no minions. So I've been doing my research and preliminary shopping and have pretty much decided on what I'd like. I shared the info with the Treasurer, then spend the rest of the morning at a dealership trying to make it come together. With the access to pricing information that consumers have now via the internet, there isn't nearly as much haggling and gamesmanship as there used to be; it's all pretty straightforward price-wise. Availability, on the other hand, is trickier. There wasn't a vehicle with the specifications I need within a three state radius. So we're going to have to either order one from scratch from the factory, or intercept one already on the assembly line destined for another dealer. Tomorrow should tell the tale which way the breaks out, but, in any case, I'll have to wait 2-4 weeks for a new vehicle ... which is no big deal, since I'm pretty content with what I've got. Now, I need to own the fact that the car I'm getting bears a "status" nameplate (BMW). By default, I'm averse to such things, so an explanation to the faithful of the diocese is in order: It's all about safety, reliability, efficiency, and comfort--more or less in that order. Some of the technology that is available now on "luxury" makes (like blind spot detection) could help save my life, so I'm going to say it's worth it. BMW also has excellent ratings for VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions ("new car smell"), to which Mama Askofu Brenda is extremely sensitive, so there's a health concern as well. But I'm still probably going to be slightly embarrassed pulling into church parking lots in that sort of car. 
  • Lunch from KFC, eaten at home.
  • Dealt with a couple of administrative/pastoral issues, one pertaining to an upcoming ordination, and other pertaining to a potential aspirant to Holy Orders.
  • Reworked, refurbished, and printed a homily used in a prior year for use this Sunday at Redeemer, Cairo.
  • Took care of some Nashotah-related business.
  • Processed some emails that arrived after I established the task queue. Some elicited an immediate response; others were assigned a place in line.
  • More thorough debriefing with the Archdeacon on some pending matters.
  • Evening Prayer in the cathedral.
  • Nice long walk after dinner and before regular financial chores.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spring 2018 House of Bishops, Day 3

Image
We have new stricter social media rules now in the HOB--no photos taken during a session without the permission of those in it. So ... I'm having to be more creative about finding pics for the blog, because I'm not going to take a panoramic group shot and then contact everyone whose balding head shows in the photo! Once again, the day began with Eucharist. This time, though, I took a pass, and opted for a vigorous walk on a brisk morning. Having looked at the liturgy sheet in advance, there were enough triggers that I knew the net spiritual effect for me would be negative. #selfcare  I will say, however, that HOB worship has gotten incrementally less problematic during the tenure of the current Presiding Bishop, and I give props for that. When we convened at 10:15, there were the usual announcements, then a whirlwind set of summary reports from bishop members of the Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music (SCLM) and the Task Force on the Study of Marriage. The full report
Read more

The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Image
Ten years ago, minus about six weeks, I served as the supply priest for Trinity, Lincoln six days before my consecration as Bishop of Springfield. Today I was there for the final regular scheduled canonical parish visitation of my episcopate. (I have a few more gigs on my calendar: March 7 in Mattoon, the Chrism Mass, the Triduum at the cathedral, May 30 in Cairo, and June 27 back at the cathedral--May 2 is available and not yet spoken for--but the every Sunday routine of my life for the past decade (in a larger sense, for the last 32 years) is at a major flex point.) As much as it could have been in the midst of a pandemic, this morning at Trinity was luminous. We confirmed eight adults, six of them qualifying as "young." My homily had to compete with the sounds of active young children. (I would much rather do that than have no kids in church.) Trinity is one of the exciting points of light in my ministry in the diocese. I took my time getting out of Lincoln because I wante
Read more

Saturday (St Charles, King & Martyr)

Substantive phone conversations with the rector of Lincoln, the President of the Standing Committee, and the Canon-to-the-Ordinary. Attended the live-streamed memorial service for a former clergy colleague, and continuing friend, with whom I was in serious conversation about coming to the diocese less than a year ago, who died quickly of COVID at age 66. Then, earlier than I actually needed to, but wanting to get out of town ahead of the snowstorm, I packed up and headed south to Lincoln, where I had time to do some significant reading before hitting the sack.
Read more