Armstrong Houshold

We had a graduation in our house as Silas graduated from pre-school.

Here is receiving his certificate from the School's Superintendant.

It is also baseball season and the boys are both playing in the city league. They each had there first games this week and had a great time. Did you see Silas smile. He fell this spring on the back stairs and knocked his two front teath loose. The dentist had to pull them. He's pretty cute without them.

Megan and I are doing well. She is on vacation with her mom in Ireland and Scotland before we take our High School students to St. Louis, MO on our mission trip. We would ask for your prayers over the next month as our schedule is packed full. We pray everyone is doing well.

Another Ordination

I was able to attend the ordination service in Denver for Matt Gearke this past Sunday.

Matt will be serving as Associate Pastor (youth and children's) at Spirit Lake, Iowa.

He will be making the move and beginning ministry in July.

Let's all remember Matt in this time of transition.

Holy Ground

Friends -

Some of you may have heard in the news about the shooting in Moscow, ID that involved a Presbyterian Church two weeks ago. A gunman shot and killed his wife at home, shot at the police station and killed a police man, and then entered the church and killed the caretaker there and shot himself in the sanctuary. Needless to say it was a huge tragedy and shock in the small college town. That was my home church and the church that supported me on my seminary journey. I found out the morning of the shooting (Sunday) as I was preparing for worship in Wilbur which was quite a difficult time for me.

Well, last Sunday the congregation re-entered their worship space for the first time. One of my parishoners covered for me in Wilbur so that Lars and I could attend. It was very moving for me to share in the service with my church family and it meant a lot to them that Lars and I came. There was a lot of hope in the service as we sang songs and prayed litanies for healing. Halfway through the service they brought in the communion elements and water for the baptismal font. As the pastor poured the water into the font and we sang "Holy Ground" I choked back tears.

It was amazing to see the way the church as a whole reached out to this community in need. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance had been in to help work on the church so there was no sign of the violence that took place there. They had also visited with church members and community neighbors to talk about emotions surrounding the tragedy. There were cards and emails from all over the country expressing support for the congregation and their healing process.

My biggest realization from the experiance was that God never left the space. That while we were re-claiming, re-dedicating the space for worship, the truth was that it never stopped being a worship space. That even though tragedy and evil entered in - God was still present and the holiness of the space was still intact. It was a moving lesson on the presence of God in our lives in times of pain as well as in times of joy.

For those of you who may have seen the news and remembered it was my church thank you for your prayers. It was the prayers of people around the country that have helped this congregation to survive and will continue to help it thrive. Thanks be to God!

Nothing new really.

It's funny how much a dog can become just like its owner. We just found out this morning that our dog Roux has torn her Anterior Cruciate Ligament( ligament in the knee, also known as the ACL) and has arthritis in her knees. Apparently she is not as much as a mutt as we thought because she is predisposed to this injury as an almost pure breed Burmese Mountain Dog. For those who don't know every single member of my family has arthritis in our knees and wrists, we have all had at least one knee surgery, and my mother, sister, brother, and father have all torn their ACL's. So Roux is going to have surgery next week, and if you pray for dogs, pray for Roux. And if you know how much I love my dog, pray for my sanity during her surgery and recovery. Thanks.

Another Walk Across the Stage

Audrey Margaret Rasmussen graduated from Wilson High School in Portland Oregon last Friday night.

There is something about that silly song - Pomp and Circumstance - then when it cranks up and lines of young men and women start walking into the room - lines that include my daughters - well, I have this tendency to want to break out into deep sobbing. It comes from nowhere, I'm just fine, kinda bored, waiting for it all to begin and then... that music cranks up and the robed ones begin to appear and there it is....

I ran into Jill Holseth. She walked SFTS just this last month. She is still doing on-call chaplain work at Providence and is getting ready to take on the ords. Her daughter and second and last born also graduated last night.

Blessings from Taize

Hi folks! I've got just one month left in Europe - it's hard to believe it's almost time to come back to the U.S.A. I finished my masters thesis last week and am now waiting on comments from my advisor, after which I have a few weeks to kick back before I defend the thesis and hop a plane for home. I would covet your prayers for June 10 when I'll be preaching a sermon in Calvin's Auditoire (I hope not to get struck by lightning...)!

After finishing my thesis, I spent the past week with my dad at the Taize community in France. Let me tell you, the ritual of Taize worship three times a day, interspersed with simple living, Bible study, sharing with others and personal time for reflection, is not a bad way to spend a week. The photo here shows the brothers sitting inside the sanctuary. About 2,000 people were there this week (most of whom are young adults, teens to 30ish), and they can accommodate something between 6,000 and 10,000. Singing those Taize songs with hundreds of others is quite an experience - the music just washes over you. The existence there is rustic - think church camp for adults - but it's worth the trouble it takes to get all the way to France. Once we all have study leave (time and budget) built up, we should take a class trip...

Magna Cum Laude

We flew back to Washington DC on Saturday the 12th - we got in around 5 pm local time to Dulles Airport. We decided to get around as much as possible on the Metro - so our hotel was in Dun Leaving (the daily rate was at least below $200/night!) a block away from the local Metro stop but about 30 minutes from downtown DC. I love the metro. I think about Aimee whenever I ride the escalators (ride on the right, walk on the left).

On Sunday we got up, got ourselves organized and rode the orange line to the Metro stop, then switched over to the red line and continued north to the American University campus at Tenlytown. There is a shuttle from the metro stop to the campus and there were lots and lots of somewhat confused but very proud parents heading back from the first round of stage walking.

Meanwhile, another great gaggle of family dressed in their sunday best stood around outside the auditorium with young men and women dressed in blue gowns and hats. Looking around I could recognize the master's gowns and hoods plus the Phd hats. I couldn't help but remember how it was to walk - just a year ago...

We walked over to Dana's dorm where she was puttering around still packing up, talking to friends and generally hanging out. The room is the kind of room I lived in when I was in college. Concrete block walls, built in dressers and closets and two beds, two desks, two bookcases and a rug that has seen perhaps way more then should be contemplated. We talked, then she dressed and we walked out to find her friends, a suitable place to take photos and eventually, to go our all too rapidly approaching diverging ways but in this case - we to the bleachers and her to line up into the blue gowns. They marched in and if I hadn't been holding a video camera I would have broken out into deep deep sobbing the need for which surprised me. I remember dropping her off at the kindergarten door on the first day of school and then turning away and how I started sobbing then.

The graduation itself was classic: speakers, name calling and stage walking. No one went long and mercifully most of the speechifying was interesting. At the end, the class stands and walks back out. Dana passed in front of us, not knowing how close we were, and then away from me - out the doors into the world beyond. "Wait!" I wanted to cry out. "Where are you going? How can this happening so soon?" But without looking back she marched out with her head lifted high and a proud smile of accomplishment.


Dana has her first grown up job: Para-Legal in a Bethesda Estate law firm Now she needs a place to live but in the meantime.... she is spending a couple of weeks here before work starts. If anyone knows of a nice place to live in Bethesda, we're taking suggestions. We're also shopping for the professional clothes and apartment stuff and so on. And I'm stocking up on Kleenex boxes for the drive back from the Oakland Airport on May 30th. How did my Mom ever do this?

Fresh Start

In the Atlanta Diocese of the Episcopal Church there is this wonderful clergy resource called Fresh Start. At the beginning of any new ministry, whether or not you are a new rector, an old rector in a new church, an associate pastor, a chaplain, or any ordained clergy person who starts any new job anywhere in the Atlanta Diocese you are required to go to a clergy support group three times a month that meets at the diocese every Thursday for the first year of your ministry; and then after that you are required to go once a month for the next year. And then after that you can come whenever you feel the need for some connection. They also hold monthly support meetings for clergy in urban churches, in suburban churches, rural churches, chaplains, pastoral care clergy, older adult ministry clergy, and youth and family clergy. I don't think the Episcopal church does support any better than any other church, or that being forced to spend every Thursday out of touch and in a meeting is great, but can you imagine during your first call getting to sit around and talk to other people going through the same thing and getting advice from clergy who have already been through it? As well as getting to get away from the pressures of your job for a few hours on Thursday morning, plus they have a free breakfast. (who doesn't love free food). I only post this because apparently support like this can be done, clergy can be connected and according to the pastor's who go, it is a lifesaver during the first year of ministry. I just emailed the Bishop for the local Methodist District saying maybe this Fresh Start thing isn't such a bad idea for the Methodist's here in Atlanta. Now who should I contact to get in touch with a Presbyterian who can contact their own leaders? (note sarcasm)

Tulip Time & Elephant Ears

Yes, it's Tulip Time in Holland and that means Elephant Ears are back! Seems that many folks live for the deep-fried batter, slathered with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. This is as close as I ventured to said ears as folks were claiming space before the parade. Instead, I opted for a safe, rather ordinary hot dog and chips from the vendor next door.

Meantime, back at the ranch...Sammy is enjoying watching the birdies on the feeder we have mounted on the deck. Jim took 2 days to stain/seal the deck in, what felt like, gale force winds! We've also started working in our yard -- see all the green green grass in the yards across the little lake? We are coaxing our little yard into becoming pretty and green, too. The little oak tree that we brought with us from San Anselmo (Jim found it growing out of a crack in the cement at the SFTS Maintenance Shop on Ross Ave) has just this week shown signs of new life. We celebrated by planting a weeping willow, a Japanese maple and 2 Douglas spruces.

Happy Easter! St. Luke's Episcopal, Kalamazoo. Jim's first Sunday was Palm Sunday and we all gathered out in the courtyard, the daffy-dills, hyacinths, forsythias all in bloom. The next Sunday -- Easter -- we were bundled up, ringing bells and singing our Aaaa---lle-llllu-iiiias through chattering teeth! It's a lovely church -located right across the street from First Church, K'zoo. (No, I haven't been there...yet.) Jim is serving as the interim rector and seems to really enjoy that kind of work; there are 18 openings in the Diocese of Western Michigan.

Well, I reckon that's enough for now. When I saw this sign on the marquee at the Knickerbocker Theatre, downtown Holland, I couldn't help but think of you all...and us all! How strange it is to remember where we all were less than one year ago and to be writing you from this new space and place. What a dance it has been! Hoping this finds you all well and enjoying "bright sacred days and warm blessed nights."

The potential dangers of the BLOG

I had a sad reminder the other day of the potential harm a BLOG can do. I know we all know to be careful but it doesn't hurt to remember before we post that anyone, and I do mean ANYONE can read what we write. (Including your CPM) Recently an SFTS student has gotten into some hot water with his CPM because of his personal Blog. How who got ahold of what I do not know. I do know he goes up for candidacy this week and has been told that the issue may come up on the floor of the Presbytery. YIKES!
That said I do love having our BLOG to keep track of what's new with all of us and hope we will continue.
love and blessings to you all,
Cheryl

things that grow

Here is this starter pix for the 2007 Kitts-VonSeggern Vegi garden. On the right are about six plants of broccoli which sat around small and not doing much till the recent run of warm weather and then went straight to skinny stalks of blooming flowers skipping over the buds-we-get-to-eat stage. Also some califlower which shows signs of simular intentions. In the front are a bunch of carrots that I planted last July and which refused to show up till November/Jan last year. They are doing some root work but some are going straight for the flower/seed stage a well. In the middle are a range of tomato plants and basil. My little tomato starts that I showed in an earlier post had a great start from seed but then refused to do anything more once they put out their real leaves. If I put them out, I'm thinking I should also just put up a sign saying: Snail Snacks Here!


Speaking of snail snacks - I have been working on rehabing a strawberry patch that existed when I showed up. As an Oregonian not only am I picky about my coffee, beer and salmon, I'm also opinianated about my berries. May is not strawberry season. Yet here they are and once in a while I get a few before the snails snack on them. At any rate, they are pretty.






I also planted rasberries last year. Bill and the boys have expressed doubt about how high the canes were going to grow. They are no longer questioning me on this issue. We'll have a small harvest this year but next year should be quite plentiful.

I am hoping to put up some strawberry freezer jam from one of the local farmers markets this spring. I miss that fresh taste and have run out of the supply from two years ago.

Its odd living in this climate - things just move faster than one expects. Yesterday and the next few days will be pushing 90 degrees. Water districts all over the bay area - and I suspect over in the central valley too - are declaring this year as a drought year so I don't know how well my tomatoes will do before we're done.

One more picture of that which grows so fast:




Dana Marie Rasmussen graduates from American University this Sunday at 4 p.m. She's out hustling up an apartment and a job. She wants to stay in Washington D.C. I'll post photos next week sometime.

Anitra

New Jobs

Heather and I have both had two weeks to settle into our new jobs, not that two weeks mean we necessarily get to settle into anything. My church fired their church secretary two days before I started, so right now I'm a church secretary. I make copies and use my M.Div to use a hole punch and figure out whether or not to capitalize church in the bulletin. It's really hard. Also the Episcopal Church has just entered into full communion with the Methodist Church, so I have found my ordination loop hole. I can be ordained in the Episcopal Church and get to pester (I mean serve) in the Methodist Church. Heather's church is going well. She is running into all of that church stuff that you run into in a new job; politics, loyalties, and the crazy parishioners who if you let them could take up all of your time.
But the good news is that we are moving into our new house. We just painted all of the rooms, the previous owners had painted EVERY SINGLE ROOM a crazy, institutional yellow. The living room is red and for right now the rest is white. We are putting in an herb garden and we are planning our garden in the backyard. It was very inspirational to see Heather and Lars garden on its way, makes me want to go out back. We have to teach Roux to stay out of the mommies strawberries, she loves strawberries. If anyone knows anything about the growing zone we are in I would love the advice.

Aimee in action

Or maybe that should be "Aimee Inaction."

Hello, all, and greetings from behind my computer screen, which is where I spend most of my time these days. Our master's theses are due May 31, so I'm usually to be found sitting here in my room, typing away. Or - occasionally - checking in on the SFTS blog. Sorry I've not offered an update for a while. For those of you curious about my upcoming plans (ha! like I've got those), I finish the thesis by the end of May and then hang out here for several weeks until I do the defense June 26 or 27. Then, July 5, I'm comin' home!

For my part, I've been thinking of all of you and our sweet time together last year at this time. In fact, last week I had a series of dreams several nights in a row where we were graduating again, getting our robes, moving out of our apartments...just like it was yesterday! You are all in my heart, even from afar - and I miss you.



Just for fun, here are some photos from earlier this spring - before I was glued to my desk chair:

My sister and I are standing in front of the cathedral in Vienna, back at the beginning of March. She's doing a semester abroad in Austria, so we're both enjoying a European lifestyle this spring. In April, we met up in...


...London, where took this action shot of me getting on a slide at the Tate Modern museum. Remember the "hydrotube" enclosed water slides? (There was one out on McLoughlin Boulevard in the 80s, if you remember, Anitra - all the rage for kids' birthday parties until someone sued over an injury and they all shut down.) Anyway, some famous modern artists I'd never heard of installed these "sculptures" in the Tate - three twisty metal tube slides, just like the hydrotube, but without water. Very cool - though I'm not sure what makes it art, since I've seen the same thing in a smaller version at many a playground.

For those who are out of town

Visit SFGate for the details - A gas tank rolled over in the middle of the McArthur Maze and took out two connectors this morning.

"The elevated roadway that fell carried eastbound traffic from the Bay Bridge onto Interstates 580 and 980 and state Highway 24. It draped like a blanket over a roadway below, a connector from southbound I-80 to I-880 that also was severely damaged." (SF Gate - as the photo)

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/29/BAGVOPHQU46.DTL

Pictures from Wilbur

Hey everyone - We have been busy in our yard. A few of my parishoners came over and worked on roto-tilling what will be our food patch. Lars and I are really anticipating fresh grown crops. In the meantime here are some pictures of a flower patch, a snake (I was home alone and working outside but mustered enough courage to take a picture), and some indoor work with my first ever batch of sticky buns! Yum! - Heather

Good News from Hattle

Robert Hattle called from New Mexico last night to say that he has now passed all ordination exams. His CPM opened up a path for an oral exam on the final subject with them yesterday (he passed almost all the written exams) - and he passed.

Now he needs to wait until the Presbytery approves the process before he can be declared a certified candidate - which won't meet for a few more months yet but it is a good thing to have cleared all the ordination hurdles.

He is currently living at and serving as a chaplain at Ghost Ranch where he is developing a worship community that serves the community around the Ranch.

yet another way to avoid what I should be doing:

You scored as Moltmannian Eschatology. Jürgen Moltmann is one of the key eschatological thinkers of the 20th Century. Eschatology is not only about heaven and hell, but God's plan to make all things new. This should spur us on to political and social action in the present. Moltmannian Eschatology 80% Amillenialist 75% Preterist 70% Dispensationalist 50% Postmillenialist 15% Premillenialist 0% Left Behind 0% What's your eschatology? created with QuizFarm.com

Thanks to Aric Clark (aricclark.blogspot.com) for this delightful electronic bon-bon.

More to come the next time I'm motivated

Jean Boal Says Hi

We had lunch today together over in Graton at a fun little cafe. Jean is doing the Spiritual Direction program while working her way through the UCC certification process. Overall, things are going well but we both agree some form of ordained work would be nice in the not too distant future.

SFX by the HS

I've been wanting to share this with you all for several days now.

Before our Good Friday Tenebrae service, Mary and I carried the glass-topped chancel table down from its usual location under the cross next to the wall, down to the level of the pulpit and lectern. We got it all centered up and positioned so the readers could easily extinguish a candle after each reading. The candles were all arranged. Everything looked great... simple... unadorned... we were ready.

After that I decided that at the end of the service, as I slipped out the side door, I would turn on one of the small spotlights that shone down in the area now occupied by the chancel table. Little did I know....

At the service - in the dark -when I turned up that one light, I thought I heard a gasp from the congregation. I found out a bit later that the light reflected off that glass top and through the candelabra. As the Holy Spirit would have it, the reflected light shone up on the wall, just at the level of our draped cross. An image appeared there from that reflection. To the left of the cross, it looked like a dove flying. To the right, it looked like a hill with three crosses on it!

Amazing. Grace.

Today's Little Bit of Fun

Limericks Needed!

Hi, All,
Procastination lives! Sue's church is celebrating Holy Humor Sunday this week. Does anybody have one or two of Marv's limericks you can email to me to add to the fun? All that I have are in a box in Portland and I'm here on the coast and can't get to them. I'm still at rgoodin@earthlink.net.
Since graduation, I've been serving as ongoing pulpit supply at Lakeside Community Presbyterian Church, a tiny church on the Oregon Coast. On paper, it's quarter time or less, so it's not an ordainable position. I prepare and lead worship on Sunday and, most weeks, do pastoral calling one other day. It's a church of 18 members, mostly over age 70. Like most part time ministries, it takes as much time as I allow it to fill. I'm having a great time doing Older Adult Ministry and being a solo pastor. I'm learning a lot about the real world that seminary doesn't teach us. Two weeks ago I was at the bedside of one of my 95 year olds as she died. Monday the 16th I'll do her memorial service. Friday this week I'll do, along with Sue, her grandaughter's wedding.
Sue is serving as interim minister at another church on the coast. We have an apartment halfway between the two towns, which works out great. Her interim is winding down--they'll probably call somebody by Pentecost--so our time on the coast will come to an end. To bad--we both enjoy enjoy livng here and I'm having a great time at Lakeside, but it's way too far to commute from Portland.
The search for a call goes on. Lots of ups and downs. Many PIFs sent out, many emails and interviews. Three neutral pulpits so far. Close, but no cigar. Sue and I are concentrating on looking for a call for copastors right now. Keep us in your prayers.
Peace and Blessings,
Bob

my ability to avoid writing sermons is well developed for a non-ordained preacher...

You’re St. Justin Martyr! You have a positive and hopeful attitude toward the world. You think that nature, history, and even the pagan philosophers were often guided by God in preparation for the Advent of the Christ. You find “seeds of the Word” in unexpected places. You’re patient and willing to explain the faith to unbelievers. Find out which Church Father you are at The Way of the Fathers!

Which one are you?

So not across the country just yet.

So we thought we were going across the country, it being a good idea at the time and all, but then we started to actually get phone calls and interviews about jobs; and then lo and behold we were both hired to do jobs that utilized our education. Heather is now the Director of family and children Services at this monster sized Episcopalian Church in Downtown Atlanta. One of these huge, gothic looking, old Southern moneyed churches. The church is so big they have their own homeless shelter, food bank, and Training and Counseling Center. She will run all their education programs, supervise some staff (the church does have 12 ordained people on staff, HELLO!), get to boss around her very own seminary interns (ha, ha, ha those suckers), and do other stuff which she hasn't told me yet. I was just hired as the Director of Communications for another huge Episcopalian church here in Atlanta. All big churches down here have their own newspaper, send out at least 5,000 newsletters A WEEK, have a tv show, a radio show, and all sorts of other things that I will coordinate and write, which I think is super funny. And we are moving into a house. I have pictures, but I can't find the camera to download them onto the computer. It has a yard in which Roux can run around. Ok I think that is all.

Alexis, Heather, and Roux

Easter Blessings

Thanks Anitra for the prompt to get us blogging again :) I am doing really well! I just finished my 2nd full week at Family and Children's and I am loving it. My official title is Family Support Specialist and basically and I am the social service side of the educational component that the child receives in Head Start. Before getting hired I was getting really depressed and down, but God does work in mysterious ways and has come through yet again. Resurrection experiences abound!

Anyway, that's about it for now. I hope you all are well. I miss you my friends!

Christ is Risen!

News from Wilbur

Hello friends -









Finally some news from Wilbur. I am sure you were all waiting with bated breath :) Everything is prepped and ready for Holy Week. Now all I have to do is lead the services. One of my parishoners that was on the PNC asked if I was planning on giving the Easter sermon from my DVD when they hired me. I took that as a sign, as she was really interested in the rest of the congregation hearing it, so that took some major pressure off. So on Sunday it will be "This is Easter" again.




Lars and I continue to enjoy Wilbur. We are eagerly awaiting Spring. I have lots of greenery coming up from my bulbs but no flowers yet. When they arrive I will post pictures. Lars and I are trying to grow a lawn and that is proving to be harder than it looks. We have sprouted some flamingos though (a fundraising event for the Miss Wilbur pagent.)

Lars is working as a cook most evenings. It is going ok. He is on the lookout for something better and will probably work at the pool this summer.

I am doing ok. Ministry is so much work. Note to self - don't try to write all the Holy Week services that week. Lars and I are headed to Kennewick to visit my folks after church on Sunday and are taking a few days off there which is good. On the whole I am happy, but also feeling a bit tired. I am looking forward to things slowing down and some vacation time in the summer.

Around the house, our new dog Milo keeps us all entertained. He is always on a lap or bugging a cat. We sure enjoy his bright spirit in the house as we await warmer weather.

Well, I hope that everyone is doing well. Easter blessings to you all!

A new member of the SFTS family

Hey everyone~
Here's some good news I just got ahold of. Rich, Becky and Austin Poole have a new addition to their family. I don't have the details except that his name is William. Maybe someone can bug Rich for the details and a picture.
Missing you all this Holy Week and hope you all are having a wonderful one.
Blessings
Cheryl

Hello - anyone out there?

Things have gone quiet lately but I imagine there is much going on in our lives. Has Alex & Heather moved yet? How goes the work with Family Support, Jen? Heather and James and Harold - this is your first holy week as pastors! Going well? Good enough? Watcha doing to celebrate the high holy days? Stephanie - send more pictures now that the snow has melted? Are the birds back on the pond? Cheryl, Bob - log in - how goes the search? Robert Hattle - finish signing up and tell us good news from Ghost Ranch! Aimee - send up more news - what is day to day life like in Switzerland?

And for everyone who is reading:

What is going on in your life that feels like Good Friday?

What is going on that feels like Easter?

2007 SFTS Alumni Reunion

We all qualify for this!

2007 Alumni Reunion 'Save the date'... the SFTS Alumni Reunion will be held April 19-21, 2007, for all graduates, with special recognition for the classes of 1957, 1982, and 1997 as they celebrate their 50th, 25th and 10th anniversaries. Click here for registration and program information:

http://www.sfts.edu/docs/Alumni_Brochure_2007.pdf

how to avoid writing a sermon

In case you want more:

• First Week
• Second Week - part 2
• Third Week
  

What an amazing thing!

I planted tomato and basil seeds last weekend. For five days they did whatever they did in secret and then on the sixth day they started popping up. In the morning, there was just three of them - their little stems bent over but starting to straighten up. By the end of the day almost all the tomatoes were up and out. Now they are tall enough that they follow the sun. I walk into the kitchen where I keep them in a greenhouse window thing that hangs out over the sink and I can see all of them leaning into the morning sunlight.

Dana is out visiting on her last spring break before graduating.... the last school holiday. I'm getting very sentimental on the thought that she'll get a real job with limited vacations and then I won't see her as much any more. Also becoming rather terrified about the idea of her moving into a place of her own and having to figure out for herself how to do the furniture, food, pots & pans, rent, utilities, etc. I cried hard when I dropped her off for the first day of kindergarten (its a mom thing) - now look at this! How did my mother ever let me go?

Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
It's hard to get by just upon a smile
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
and I'll always remember you like a child, girl

Another graduation...and the Pope

It's hard to believe that just nine months after I received my last diploma, I've already gotten another one. The way the program works here, about two-thirds of the students graduate from the "graduate school" at the end of February and go home, leaving the 10 masters students to fend for themselves during the spring semester. So a couple of weeks ago, we had a graduation ceremony, and here's me receiving my diploma for the graduate school - the guy shaking my hand is the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Samuel Kobia. (I might mention that he didn't whisper anything in my ear when he shook my hand.)


Before we got our diplomas, though, the whole lot of us went to Rome for a visit with the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity - and to meet the Pope, sort of. In previous years, Bossey students have participated in a "general audience" with the Pope, meaning they sit in a room with 12,000 other screaming fans (literally - it was like a football game with people getting up and offering the Pope "cheers" from their various countries or organizations) and then get a group photo taken with him after. Sadly, this year the Bossey students only got to see the Popemaster General from afar - no group photo. Seen here, he's shaking the hand of Bossey's director, which is as close as we got. The blond head in front is one of our students from Germany. I didn't take this photo - I was a few rows farther back...but you get the idea.

Thanks, everyone, for posting all your news! It helps me feel a little closer to my SFTS family (can you believe it's been a year since we were starting to plan baccalaureate???).

Grist for the Mill

There have been a few interesting resources coming into my life lately that I'd like to share with you. The first is a book by William Willimon. Its titled simply, "Pastor". I'm only through the introduction so far and have already found it to be helpful, inspiring, and timely. I will recommend it to you all as "continuing education."

The second is one I found today in my search for resources to lead our process for discernment about becoming an Open and Affirming (ONA) congregation (think More Light). This is a beginning place for looking at the scriptural basis of conversations around human sexuality, LGBT issues, and the church. I believe it will lead one to further helpful articles and links. It might be useful for those who need or want to talk openly about these issues with their congregations, Presbyteries, and CsOM. See it at
http://www.soulforce.org/article/homosexuality-bible-walter-wink

Finally, I thank you all who came to Kenwood on Feb. 18, who called or wrote, or who have simply prayed for me on that most wonderful day, or since then. You continue to bless and inspire me!

Howdy from Holland

Hey Everybody!

The little yellow house you see is our new home. If you look closely, you'll see the newest edition to our family, Ferdinand the snow blower. And if you look very very closely you can see a tiny little twig just to the left of the driveway. That's an oak tree that sprang up in our former abode on Ross Avenue way back when. Jim has nurtured that little tree for lo, these many years and by golly, we brought it with us to CA. I think the last leaf finally "let go" a few days ago!

Once the snow melts (if ever) we look forward to having the yard landscaped since there is really nothing there but dirt! Next door (just to your right) is an empty lot; behind us is a little lake which hosts scurrying geese and ducks and a few high-stepping herons. They've all gone away since the lake is now frozen.

Jim is still in CA but will be striking out to come this way after he finishes service at San Francisco Towers on March 18. I tell you, it has been a real eye-opener and challenge to face all this newness without him right here. Cell phone conversations with 3 hour time differences just aren't the same as having your sweetie right here! However, this experience has made me have a whole new appreciation for those who live alone. I also have a greater empathy for those military families whose loved ones are so far away, facing the attrocities of this seemingly never-ending war. At least I know that our geographical separation has a definite ending; these families demonstrate real courage -- and I keep them in my prayers daily!

I also check the blogpot daily -- just to see your sweet familiar faces in the great ordination photos from James' special day (thanks, Cheryl!) and to keep in touch. I'll try not to be such a lurker -- much love and every blessing!

James Ordination!

The gang gathers to raise a glass (or two) to our dear friends James and Mary!

The Rev. James Kosko

Ok so better late than never. I have finally gotten my act together to get this post done. Everyone please feel free to add your comments about the ordination. Although it was probably the longest ordination I've been to yet it was worth every minute to get to see James loved on and affirmed by such a great cloud of witnesses.
Ok so now I've done my part all-be-it a little sloppily (I'll get the hang of it someday) Who knew it wouldn't put the pictures where I wanted them but you all get the idea anyway.

Love to you all, can't wait for the next one!

Cheryl

Katrina News

The Presbyterian News Service has written up and posted, with photos and video, how recovery is going in Katrinaland. There is a rather distressingly long video of a car drive through the now non-existent 9th ward

To view the stories - please click here.

If you want to see an astounding video of the storm and the surge coming ashore into Biloxi then click here

There is an interesting analysis of the storm's impact on Biloxi and D'Iberville at the The Weather underground - and a very personal story of how the storm was deeply devastating to the community of St. Martins just east of D'Ibeville.

A story that haunts me comes from this site:

"One of the odd things that has occur ed since the storm, probably due to continuing issues with bringing the phone system back online, is that the sub station regularly receives 911 calls from locations that currently are nothing but slabs, from these areas. Answering the call, there is only static on the other end. There is a list of addresses, numbering about 20 in total, hung up on the wall for the dispatcher, noting these locations. We think that possibly the last calls from these locations were 911 calls, and are somehow still electronically in the memory or database of the phone system."

A Red Letter Day!

Dear Friends,
February 18, 2007 was quite a day for ordinations! Blessings to James & Mary as they venture out into their new life of ministry! And congratulations and blessings for Paul Phillips who was also ordained in the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy on the very same day. Paul will be serving at St. Luke's Hospital in St. Louis MO as chaplain. The hospital, I believe is somehow affiliated with Presbyterians. Leanne Van Dyk, former prof of Systematic Theology at SFTS and current Dean/VP of Western Theological Seminary was also ordained on Sunday, February 18. So all-in-all, it was a RED letter day to be sure. I attended Leanne's ordination and felt that I was standing amidst a great cloud of witnesses in the chapel at Western -- and somehow felt a sweet connection to the ordinations of James and Paul. Call it a Spirit thing!

The man who preached at Leanne's ordination used to serve on the board of trustees at SFTS and was part of the search committee who called her to SFTS back in ?? and is now pastor of Westminster Presbyterian, Grand Rapids. Leanne has an identical twin sister who was there too -- kinda freaky in a good kind of way. Leanne and Greg Love are pals -- in fact, Leanne encouraged Greg to apply for the position at SFTS way back when. Interestingly (to me), he, too, has an identical twin. BUT they didn't know that about each other -- luckily, yours truly was able to make that connection for them! Another man with whom I spoke (Don Butyne) at Leanne's ordination was on the faculty at SFTS for 8 years and served as interim dean for 3 of those years. So I felt very close to my community at SFTS even though I am, at times, what seems light years away.

But that's for another blog. For now, I just wanted to let you know about the other ordinations. Think of you all often and send you loads of love!! Keep in touch when you can!!

Jenn's Update

Today there are over 800 jobs posted on the Church Leadership Connection...yet nothing has worked out. However, I just had an interview with Family and Children's Services in Tulsa, OK and it was great! They affirmed me and my gifts and wanted me...and I want to be involved in their mission! I haven't felt this happy, calm and complete about something in such a long time.

The position is a Family Support Specialist, which basically means that I am working with families and parents that have kids in Head Start and Early Head Start (infants start at 6 weeks). I go on home visits and form relationships with both kids and adults, helping them set goals and giving them resources they might not otherwise get. I am really excited and I thought I would share this with my friends :) While it's not an ordained call, I really do feel like this is a call to ministry and I believe God's hand is there guiding this endeavor.

I miss you all! Take care and God bless :)

I love Italy - Their Food Sings

Sooner or later somebody (Cheryl, pictures?) will post on the Grand Ordination of The Rev. James Kosko (a 3 hour extravaganza and truely a great love-a-thon) and the debrief in the bar afterwards but in the meantime:

I found this on another blog (on cheese making, natch) and fell in love....

Time for a little "Oneness" in the Body

I finally got all signed up and back on the Blog (Thank you Anitra!)
In light of all the split/leaving talk in the PC(USA) I thought we might all appreciate a little "Good News"
I haven't checked out all the particulars yet but this looks like a good thing to me.

http://www.christianchurchestogether.org/news/070209.html

Looking forward to seeing some of you on Sunday at James ordination!

Jepsen Update

Hello friends -

Lars and I are slogging through winter. It is finally warming up (38!) and most of the snow has melted. Our back yard was nothing but weeds when we bought the place so now it is a big mud patch. I go out to walk the dog and I fall out of my clogs. We need to look into some grass. Either way we are both eager for the arrival of Spring. We planted lots of bulbs when we got here and I can not wait to see their happy faces.

Lars finally got a job. He is working as a cook at "The Homestead". It is one of our restaurants - the only one that doesn't specialize in burgers. He is making steaks and pizzas and seems to be enjoying himself.

We are busy inside the house while we wait for Spring. We ripped up our bedroom carpet yesterday to finally get down to our hardwood floor. God only knows why there were so many staples but Lars and I finally got everything cleared. It looks awesome.

Church is going OK. Some of you saw my short lived post on an issue with parishoners. We had a run in about the authority of Scripture. Much to my surprise they are still attending. The session has voted to no longer be a Confessing Church so that is good. Admist the division talk I am glad that they heard my call for working together. This job is difficult and I am constantly lamenting how unprepared I am from my time in seminary. There is just such a disconnect from the way we are trained to be pastors and what the work actually requires of us. Oh well - "I will, with God's help"

Hope you all are well. Thanks for your care and concern. I miss you - and Anitra - what I wouldn't give for a Mount Tam Pale Ale and some Onion Rings - thanks for the picture.

- Heather

Upgrades, Ordinations, & Podcasts

We are officially upgraded to the new blog. If y'all want to post, you'll encounter the update process. Please let me know if you have any problems!!!!

James Kosko's ordination is coming up this sunday in Kenwood. (Which is in between Santa Rosa and Sonoma if you didn't know this...) At last count there should be about eight or nine of us in attendance. There are plans to go out afterwards in search of appropriate beverage and food.

I've taught myself how to do podcasts and how have two podcasts on Itunes - and also available for mp3 downloads. Please come visit the Covenant Network site for the mp3 version and do a search in Itunes on Covenant Network for the full flavor w pictures version. There are two presentations - one is an interview of Margaret Towner, the first woman ordained to the ministry in the Presbyterian Church(USA) and the more I listen to it the more in awe I am of how this has taken place. Read it in text or listen to it - I think its important to know how this came to take place. The other podcast is a really great sermon from Lisa Larges, the regional director of That All May Freely Serve. She does a very nice job of laying out a tough message with humor and compassion. Please come visit - and if you blog or have friends who blog, please suggest that they too come visit these presentations.

If you are following the New Wineskins - they have met, they have asked a sister denomination Evangelical Presbyterians to open a non-continoues Presbytery for congregations wishing to leave the PCUSA, and will meet again in a few months or so. Leslie Scanlon has some good coverage at Presbyterian Outlook (free, but registration required). You might also be interested in visiting the Presbyterians for Renewal website, and the Network of Presbyterian Women in Leadership. Or you might just go get another cup of coffee.

God Bless Cliff Kirkpatrick

Hi again, folks -

The stated clerk and executive director of the GAC of the PCUSA sent out this letter to all congregations in response to the potential defection of churches in coming weeks.

http://www.pcusa.org/oga/newsstories/christs-unity.htm

It is so odd to be spending all my time studying the unity of the global church, all the while my own denomination is potentially splitting once again.

Transitions

I'm preaching on The Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday in about two weeks...hm... the same day as the ordination of James... I wonder, will his face glow after the laying on of hands? Should we be offering to build booths in the sanctuary?

I have never quite "got" why either the Transfiguration passage was significant nor why it rates its own Sunday in the lectionary till I started digging into it all this morning. I think I may suffer from way too many sermons on Peter's alleged point of view, "Wow, cool, let's hang out here, what do you mean go back down the mountain?" You may remember James Noel's riff on the passage during graduation weekend.

In the lectionary, it will always be preached because it closes out Epiphany. Depending on the whole Easter moon calendar calculation Epiphay can run up to eight weeks, but not always. Transfiguration Sunday is the override passage, the tip-down passage. Its like when I've been flying for a very long time and then there is this subtle shift in the alignment of the airplane. Subtle and unmistakable - I call it the tip down moment and its the signal that not only have we started to approach the airport, its a good time to make that last run for the bathroom before those seatbelt lights are turned on overhead...

Bill and I took the weekend off and rented a room in a hotel in the financial district of San Francisco. We walked all over the city - we enjoy walking and looking at neighborhoods. We had a nice view - we looked toward North Beach and Telegraph Hill. We saw the twin spires of Saints Peter and Paul highlighted against the sky. They have an open design - they are translucent even as they point toward heaven. They glowed in the twilight of dawn and dusk and were the first to emerge and the last to disappear into the darkness.

So clearly, I am rehersing/exploring themes for the sermon yet to be written - but thus is the nature perhaps of blogging or writing or streams of thoughts at any rate. What I really want to do in this blog entry is to tell you that we took the ferry over and back out of Larkspur and - of course - stopped for lunch at the brewpub.

We sat outside in the late winter sunlight - ordered up beer and burgers off the same menu that we have all used for years and I remembered all the meals with all of you I have enjoyed in that place. I ate too much and became bloated with beer, onion rings, and pastrame sandwiches. Then we got in the car and drove back home to Santa Rosa.

Is it possible to go back? Or to stay too long? Or is it good to transition in stages? Even though none of you were there with me in person, you were there with me in translucent memory. Did I shine with a strange new light or just glow with the mild sunburn I had picked up from the three days of city hiking and ferry riding we'd just completed. Santa Rosa is certainly not the hills of Calvary - but I found that I can't eat at the brewpub like I used to. My body is starting to rebel at the presence of all that meat and fat. Or perhaps its not a rebellion but an awakening to a needed change.

What can we take with us? What must we leave behind? What awaits us? The Gospel speaks with the Law and the Prophets, the Grand Plan is put into place - and Peter just tries to figure out how to be a good disciple.

Peace - I miss you all very much.

Anitra

ps - I'm going to add a note to the end of the entry on switching to the New and Improved Blogger so if you are wondering where we are with that conversation, check back to there.

Should we go with the update?

Hi fellow blogging team members. Apparently - there is an upgrade to the blog interface that we can take advantage of. And - while they don't say so now - we may need to go do eventually in any case. However, there seems to be a warning that we'll have to resign in with our "google accounts". If you don't have one, they will helpfully create one.

This sounds like a pain and if we do it, I think everyone has to do it.

So I figure our options are:

1) stay with what we have for as long as possible or
2) figure out a date by which everyone should try to pick up a google account and then switch or
3) switch which then makes everyone pick up a google account if they want to keep posting...

I donno. I'm not thrilled with being forced into The Google Machine but hey, this blog is free (cash wise) so it is hard to complain. Well, not for me. I actually find it quite easy to complain, no matter the circumstance. I'm more than a little concerned that I could easily end up in heaven and find myself compeled to make a few suggestions to God on how to organize the place a little better. Well, at least I'm hoping for heaven. I'm pretty sure I'll get there... Unless Calvin was wrong. In which case... hmm... I'll probably have a few simple suggestions for who ever is running the alternative as well.

So - post your vote; what do you want to do?

Anitra the spiritual australian sheep dog....

Check out the 1/18/06 comic:
http://www.rhymeswithorange.com/

TV Civics Lessons

My brother sent me this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CvoC551i2E

You Are Invited!

The Golden Gate Association
of the Northern California Nevada Conference
of the United Church of Christ
invites you to the
ordination of
James Kosko, M Div 2006
into the Ministry of Jesus Christ,
February 18, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Kenwood Community Church, UCC ~ Kenwood, CA

James is called to serve as Pastor at Elk Grove Congregational Church, UCC in Elk Grove, CA

Hermeneutics

So here's a perfect example of why Presbyterians still can't agree on how to interpret and apply Scripture: did anyone else notice that New Wineskins is using our baccalaureate verse from Isaiah 43 as their mantra?

Check it out (and if you're Presbyterian and don't know what New Wineskins is, you need to find out):

http://www.newwineconvo.com/

Sliding in an Icy Land

I thought I would write to tell you all about the winter weather that has hit the middle of the country, and ask for prayers. Here in Hominy we are lucky, only 6 inches of sleet is on the ground and we have electricity currently. However, the rest of the eastern and southern parts of Oklahoma and the Southwestern part of Missouri aren't so lucky.


Over 500,000 people are without power and the high temperature will be about 25 the next few days with the low hitting 0 degrees. My Aunt lives in Springfield, MO and only about 5% of the town has power. She said the place looks like a war zone. Their land was full of trees and they have lost most of them due to the weight of the ice. An historic park in Muskogee, OK is completely destroyed. Basically, it's really bad here and your prayers would be greatly appreciated by all the folks around here.

What's really crazy is that most if not all of the churches were shut down today. Although, some churches have gained generators and are opening up as shelters for those without power. The expectation is that power won't be anywhere near coming back online until late this week, but the temp won't be above freezing until Thursday.




Thanks for all of your prayers! My mom and I are staying in and keeping warm and dad has been going to work, but it takes him about 30 minutes to go 3 miles. Basically, it's crazy weather! I hear there was snow in Southern Cal., anybody out there experience that?

Take care, stay warm and don't slide away!

Love, Jenn :)

Making Feta

One of the things I have started to make is cheese. Mostly soft cheeses like chevre and feta although I have a test brie aging at the moment.

Making cheese turns out to be easier than bread. Yesterday I got stuff out to make a fresh batch of feta. You see here - two liters of goat milk (I usually use four); a pot, two basket molds and a drain tray, my collection of cheese molds (little packets) and two coagulants - vegitable rennet and Calciam chloride, and a thermometer.


First I heat the milk to about 96 degrees so its nice and cozy for the bacteria - which is what is in that blue spoon.

Goat milk comes from Trader Joes. Even though I'm surrounded by goats from here to Bodega Bay I can't get any fresh goat milk unless I suddenly become best friends with a goat herder. Fortunantly TJoe's sees fit to sell regular pasturized goat milk. Ultrapasterized milk won't work, it doesn't coagulate and form curds.




After the bacteria has a chance to spread out and enjoy itself, I added the two coagulants which very swiftly resulted in a nice firm curd here. The knife is holding back a wall which means we're ready to finish cutting and then transfer to the basket molds.


Here they are when I first put them in - and here they are about four hours later. Much smaller. But very yummy.


I keep them in a brine in my refrigerator.


A much better set of directions can be found at the Fias Farm website.

If you want to make your own - there are places to order stuff from if no one is selling local. The Beverage People, which is local to Santa Rosa and does wine, apple cider and beer, is starting to do cheese stuff and perhaps sausage. I make sausage too. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to build a cold smoker for the cheese and a hot smoker for the sausage...

Across the country and back again

Hello from Atlanta!

We have both been awfully slack about posting, in fact even joining this blog since we left California. I guess it only makes sense that as we are now moving back across the country we should join the blog. That is correct, we are moving to Portland, Oregon as soon as we get jobs or our lease runs out, whichever comes first. After our holiday visit to Heather's family in Portland we decided it was a good idea to be around her family for the next couple of years. Heather's mother isn't getting any better, her grandmother and grandfather aren't getting any younger, and did you know you can't see a single large body of water in Atlanta? Really we had no idea, otherwise Heather never would have moved. (note sarcasm) Except for a river with a funny name, and it's dirty. So if anyone knows anyone hiring for anything in the Portland area, please talk us up to them and them give me their phone number.
Roux is excited about the move, I have promised her that I would take up snowshoeing so that she can play in the snow. She also enjoys destroying the duck she got for Christmas. That seems to be all of our news.

Alexis

A holy kiss?

I'm back in Geneva after a whirlwind Christmas break in Portland, and today (being the first of the month) was communion day at the Church of Scotland. For some odd reason, the only time the C of S passes the peace is when there's communion, and I've missed some previous communion Sundays...so I was interested to discover today that many people at the C of S use the standard Geneva greeting when passing the peace: three kisses on the cheeks. So, if you greet five people, that's 15 kisses. It becomes a bit ridiculous after a while - especially as with each new face you have that moment of deliberation when you're trying to figure out if this will be a handshake or the kissing ritual, if kissing, which cheek to head for first, and whether or not there will be lip-to-cheek contact or just the "mwah!" sound in the air.

I don't think we covered this in our sexual harassment seminar; in any case, my usual trick for avoiding unwanted hugs - clasping both hands of the incoming parishioner - doesn't work in this scenario, as people come in for the kiss anyway.

I'm not sure this is quite what Paul had in mind when he told the churches of Rome and Corinth to greet one another with a holy kiss...

Another Ordination

Good News!


From the Cascades Presbytery Website:

Ashton A. "Skip" Roberts will be ordained on Sunday, January 14, at 3:00 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, Newport, OR.

He is a chaplain at Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, Portland.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all! On this special day, you all, the members of my seminary family, are especially present in my thoughts and prayers. I hope that your respective Christmases are full of blessings.

There is a chance of a white Christmas here, so that is exciting :)

Take care and Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!

Love, Jenn :)

Blizzard!!!

The snow has started falling here in Eastern Colorado. We are hoping that we can get out Christmas Day as we head to Spokane.
If you go to this web site http://www.goyuma.com/ then find the Yuma Cam link you can see a current picture of Yuma. If you click on the recent link you will see pictures from the last 24 hours.

Since the whole state of Colorado is shut down we took a few pictures from out in the front of our home.