Moving Diagonally

A long day: Left the house at 7:30. Drove to Champaign, arriving at Emmanuel an hour ahead of the 10am funeral liturgy for Fr Alan Herbst. Consulted with Deacon Chris Hopkins, who did a sterling job coordinating the event. Presided, preached, and greeted people at the reception. Pointed the YFNBmobile back west and slightly north at around 12:30, heading for Bloomington. Spent most of the afternoon at St Matthew's, enjoying a substantive visit with Fr Dave Halt over a range of matters, partially processing an impressive stack of email, then meeting and greatly enjoying talking with a potential aspirant to the diaconate. At 6pm, it was my privilege to preside at the official opening and blessing of a recently-constructed annex to their physical plant, providing a new entrance from the parking lot, two up-to-code restrooms on the main floor, and a spacious new sacristy. This was fun. After enjoying a few bites of ham, fried chicken, sloppy joe, and a homemade eclair, I hit the road a...

Emmanuel, Champaign Alan Herbst was many things to those who are gathered here this morning, or who wish they could be gathered here. He was a brother, a brother-in-law, and a stepson. To the clergy of the diocese he served for nearly three decades, he was a colleague and friend—one who, I am told, delivered some superb meditations in his role as chaplain to the synods in 2010 that resulted in my election as bishop of this wonderful diocese. And shortly following that election, Alan was among the first to reach out to me in welcome by telephone even as I was still trying to process the news of the impending change in my life. But to the great majority of those have come together today in worship and prayer, song and remembrance, Alan Herbst was a pastor and priest, the long-tenured rector of this historic and vital parish. And that is, I’m sure, how Father Alan would most want to be remembered: as a priest. It’s usually quite healthy and necessary for us to maintain a boundary b...

38 available tasks ... 13 selected for completion today. Debriefed with the Archdeacon on events transpiring during my absence from the office. Morning Prayer in the cathedral. Gave final approval to the draft bulletin for Fr Herbst's funeral tomorrow. Took care of a pesky detail concerning one of the credit cards I use for business expenses. Made hotel reservations in Dallas for next week's meeting of the Living Church Foundation board. Met with Sandy Moore, Chair of the Department of National and World Mission. Lunch from ChiTown's Finest, eaten at home. Took care of some administrative details pertaining to the Canterbury pilgrimage. Took care of some administrative details pertaining to the transition of clergy leadership at the cathedral. Hand-wrote notes to clergy celebrating birthdays and ordination anniversaries in May. Conceived, hatched, drafted, refined, and printed a homily for tomorrow's funeral. Evening Prayer in the cathedral. Home around 6:3...

Slept in until the rather embarrassing hour of 9am. Don't do that often. Don't  get   to do that often. After packing up (in the Chicago condo occupied by our son and his wife), we headed northwest about 40 miles to the small exurban community of Cary, where my mother lives at an assisted living facility there. We visited for about an hour, then headed home, traversing a violent thunderstorm in the vicinity of Lincoln. Home around 7. Now unpacked and facing a daunting week, with yet more travel.

Spent the day in Chicago visiting with our son and daughter-in-law. Went to the 11am Solemn High at Ascension. Met the new rector, and chatted a bit with an assisting priest there who is a recent Nashotah alum. Great lunch and great dinner at local Logan Square establishments. Did some sight-seeing in the Hyde Park/University of Chicago area, and looked in on an art exhibition there. On the opposite end of town, we enjoyed a bird sanctuary near Montrose Avenue beach. After dinner, we took in the film  The Grand Budapest Hotel  at the local cinema. A very good day.

Now happily ensconced for the night in the Chicago condo where our son and daughter-in-law live. We will be ordinary pew-sitters tomorrow morning, then spend the rest of the day and Monday morning in the Windy City before heading home Monday afternoon. It was a joy earlier today to take part in the consecration of the Rt Revd Matthew Gunter as 8th Bishop of Fond du Lac. The deed was done in a large mega-church facility in Appleton.

Up at ... well, I blanch to even mention the hour, but our departure by air from ABQ was at 6am, so you do the math, factoring in returning a rental car and clearing security. After a layover in Denver long enough to get some breakfast, we were back on a plane to Chicago, touching down around 11:30am local time. After retrieving our bags, riding a train and a shuttle bus, we were back in the YFNBmobile, which we pointed northward. About three and a half hours later, we were checking in at the Hilton Garden in Appleton, WI. Through the day, I'd had two substantive emails and a phone conversation involving three different individuals, but pertaining to the same subject, which then became the subject of another substantive email, this time from me to all of them. We then enjoyed a lovely dinner with our friend Bishop Ed Little of Northern Indiana. Looking forward to tomorrow's consecration of Matt Gunter as Bishop of Fond du Lac.