Moving Diagonally

Still in Salt Lake City for the meeting of the "bishops of small dioceses" group. (The Presiding Bishop was also with us last night and this morning.) We discussed a wide range of issues, some planned and some spontaneous, all broadly concerned with what might be labeled "missionary strategy," with particular attention to our rapidly-changing societal environment. This included looking at a couple of General Convention resolutions from 2015, one of which encourages dioceses to consider merging and consolidating (not a popular concept in any given diocese) and the other creating a task force to examine the means by which bishops are chosen. In the afternoon, we heard from a representative of the Church Pension Group about the rollout of some major changes (all positive, IMO) in the pension plan for clergy. In the midst of all this, I managed to squeeze in two quite substantive phone conversations about emerging pastoral matters. We celebrated the Eucharist at 5:00 an...

Up and out at an ungodly hour to catch the 5:40am United flight from Springfield to Chicago, then a 9:10 departure for Salt Lake City. I'm here for an annual (more or less) meeting of a group called "bishops of small dioceses," which is self-selecting. By any measure, though, Springfield qualifies. Last time we met, there were only about five in attendance. This year there are more than double that number, including two from the Anglican Church of Canada. There always seems to be something substantial coming out of these meetings that benefits our life together in the Diocese of Springfield.

Celebrated, preached, and confirmed at St Thomas', Salem. As always, a tasty post-liturgical repast and lots of good conversation. Hit the road for home just before noon and pulled into the driveway a little past 2:00. Sunday mornings are the highlight of my week, every week. And I get paid to do this. Amazing.

Marion County Parish -- Matthew 24:37-44 , Isaiah 2:1-15, Romans 13:8-14 Having raised three children into adulthood, I’ve had many occasions on which to reflect, over the past several years, on the differences between the environment in which they were raised and the environment in which I was raised. In many respects, my children and I were raised in very different worlds. But there is one experience, at least, that they and I share. We’ve all had some version of the following conversation—I with my parents, my children with me: “Why do you want to do that?”  “Because all the other kids are.”  “Well, if all the other kids were jumping off a cliff, would you want to do that too?” And the conversation usually breaks down at about that point with a sigh and rolled eyes. Peer pressure wasn’t new yesterday and it won’t be old tomorrow. It’s part of growing up, a universal experience that young people have to deal with. But what we may be less aware of is that peer pressu...

Grateful for two days of extended-family time (basically, my family-or-origin, including my 90-year old mother), with assorted offspring, spouses of offspring, and lots of babies and toddlers. The total count, at its peak, was well north of 30. Brenda and I returned to Springfield Friday evening. Today I indulged in a leisurely morning, processed a stack of emails, did some task organizing, took a walk, packed for an overnight, and headed south around 3pm. That put me at St John's, Centralia in time to preside, preach, and confirm one adult. I'm now camped out at the Hampton Inn in Mt Vernon ahead of tomorrow's visitation to the other Eucharistic Community of Marion County Parish--St Thomas', Salem.

Task planning, as well as substantive attention to an emerging pastoral issue, at home. Morning Prayer in the cathedral. Prepared to celebrate and preach at the midday Mass. Attended to that same pastoral issue, via a couple of phone calls and an email. Gathered and duly submitted expense documentation for my trip to Mississippi last week. Looked around at various pockets I might pick and put together some short-term financial aid for one of our postulants. Scanned the pile of items in my physical inbox. Finally gave up on writing any birthday/anniversary notes to clergy and spouses with nodal events in November, and received the December stack. Went over to the chapel to celebrate Mass, but it was one of those relatively rare occasions when nobody showed. Lunch from La Bamba, eaten at home. Stayed home to work for the afternoon. Finished tagging and organizing the items I scanned before I left the office. Dealt with correspondence from "national church" officials...

Task planning at home; MP in the cathedral. Addressed a bit of administrivia pertaining to our diocesan church camp program, which is processing the shock of our longtime partner, the Diocese of Quincy (once TEC, now ACNA) is pulling out of the relationship. Briefly addressed a bit of pastoralia concerning one of our seminarians. Took a phone call from a priest regarding someone else in the ordination process. Refined, edited, and printed the working text of my homily for this weekend in Marion County Parish. Went to lunch with John-Paul Buzzard, communicant of St John the Divine Chapel in Champaign, and organ builder extraordinaire. Kept a dental hygiene appointment. Good marks this time (in contrast to last time). Performed major surgery on an old text of a homily for II Advent, repurposing for use at St Luke's, Springfield. Wrote a note of encouragement to a colleague bishop who is facing some serious health issues. Conceived and hatched a homily for the ordination of ...