Wednesday (St Hildegard of Bingen)

  • Morning Prayer in the cathedral.
  • Check-in conversation with the interim provost, Fr Gene Tucker.
  • Prepared to preside and preach at the midday Mass.
  • Spoke by phone with the rector of one of our parishes on a couple of diverse and unrelated issues.
  • Followed through on some Putnam Trust-related administrivia.
  • Communicated by email with two clergy over some (unrelated) emerging pastoral concerns.
  • Put meat on the bones of my homily for Proper 21 (St John's, Centralia).
  • Celebrated and preached the midday Mass, commemorating the lesser feast of St Hildegard of Bingen. Even played some of her music on my iPhone during the homily.
  • Lunch from TG, eaten at home.
  • (working from home now) Fleshed out some of the plans for the November clergy day.
  • Attended to two smallish tasks, one for Forward Movement and one for Nashotah House.
  • Returned a phone call from one our rectors.
  • Did some troubleshooting on the the diocesan camcorder, which I use in the production of catechetical videos, which I would like to be doing more of, but seem always beset with technical issues. This involved a trip to the vendor, Creve Couer Camera. I'm happy to say they were most gracious and eager to help me solve my problem, which I am optimistic they actually did.
  • Hit the road at 5:30 for points south. En route to Alton, spoke by phone with Cameron Nations, one of our seminarians, a senior at Sewanee. 
  • Met with the vestry of Alton Parish, charting a course for the coming months in the wake of the upcoming retirement of their esteemed rector, Fr David Boase. Home around 1opm.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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

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

Saturday

Out the door at 8:30, headed south. Arrived at St Paul's, Alton at about 10:15. Presided over the installation of the Revd Cindy Sever as Rector of Alton Parish. It was an energetic and lovely ceremony. After the post-liturgical potluck I headed further south still, arriving at St James', Marion in time for their regular Lord's Day celebration, which occurs on the eve thereof. Presided, preached, and laid hands on one person renewing her baptismal vows. Dinner for vestry and spouses at the home of St Andrew's, Carbondale parishioner Trish Guyon, which is always an elegant affair. By now she knows what I like to drink and what I like to eat, so it's pretty special.
Read more