Thursday (St Wulfstan)

  • My morning plans were upended by a difficult night, sleeping-wise. (I was awake for a long while with shortness-of-breath that now appears may be related to some version of sleep apnea; it's an evolving story.) So, once I settled down and was able to sleep, I allowed myself some extra time in the morning. It's a "pay me now or pay me later" scenario, right? 
  • Then it was time for my regular Thursday AM weights and treadmill routine (the latter now "enhanced" to 90 minutes, rather than 45). So it was 11am before I made it into the office.
  • Exchanged emails with Fr Evans over some of the details of Sunday's liturgies at Trinity, Lincoln.
  • Read the request of the Bishop of Kansas for permission of the bishops-with-jurisdiction to resign his office in order to accept a call to become rector of a major parish in New York City. This is not a commonplace move for a diocesan bishop, but it does happen from time to time. I executed a form conveying my assent to his request.
  • It appears that we may be in a position to hire some sort of communications officer at a diocesan level later this year. I plotted some of the discrete tasks that will need to be checked off as we move in that direction.
  • Lunch from China 1, eaten at home.
  • Met with an individual in the still-informal stages of discerning a potential vocation to the priesthood.
  • Rejoiced that I got to spend some real quality time with several commentaries (including ancient/patristic texts) on Matthew's gospel, in preparation for preaching at St Thomas', Salem on VII Epiphany. So often the press of other things prevents me from going too deep into the exegetical weeds when I'm developing a sermon, but such wasn't the case today, and it was a truly a treat.
  • One of my ongoing pastoral concerns is over hymns and service music used in our Eucharistic Communities, particularly the smallest ones. It seems like many Episcopalians have a sort of mental template of what "real church" looks and sounds like, and feel an obligation to try to replicate as much as they can the sort of Sunday event that is a challenge even in parishes with considerable resources. I've been aware for a while of a movement around what's known as "paperless singing"--simple compositions that are taught by imitation and sung by heart, with or without any instrumental accompaniment. So I spent a chunk of my afternoon surfing the web and learning more about this. Perhaps there is a clergy/musicians conference on the horizon. Check out this website if you're curious.
  • Evening Prayer in the cathedral.

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