Tuesday

  • Morning Prayer in the office (cathedral nave being worked on).
  • Debriefed with the Archdeacon over some ongoing issues.
  • Worked with Sue on some communication details about the November clergy conference.
  • Worked on some Nashotah House business ahead of next week's meetings of the Corporation and the Board of Directors.
  • Traded emails with the senior warden of a vacant cure, which resulted in a later-morning phone conversation with another bishop. But it all ended happily, as we finished the day with a signed Letter of Agreement, with the call to be announced in that parish this Sunday.
  • Edited, refined, and printed a working text of my homily for Trinity Sunday, to be delivered at St James', Marion and St Andrew's, Carbondale.
  • Met with the Dean of St Paul's over a short array of concerns.
  • Lunch at home. Leftovers.
  • Met with the Archdeacon and the Administrator for a ritual that usually takes place midsummer, but is moved up by my impending sabbatical--"elections and appointments." On the elections side, it's a pre-Synod move to make sure that we have a least one name on the ballot for every vacancy. In a diocese a small as Springfield, this is a necessity. The "appointments" are exactly that--looking at the whole list of offices that need to be filled, considering who's available, and making a decision. Some reading this very blog may receive a phone call from the Archdeacon because their name came up in this meeting.
  • Worked on the liturgy program for an upcoming ordination to the diaconate. 
  • Hand-wrote a note to some former parishioners who are getting married.
  • Worked on some Living Church Foundation business.
  • Evening Prayer in the office.

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