Let it snow, let is snow, ok that's enough.

Well it has snowed here in Minnesota. The snow pile at one end of the parking lot is already taller than the church bus. Hopefully I'll get a picture of all this wonderful snow sometime soon. Driving generally isn't that bad, up here they are quite used to the snow so it gets removed rather efficiently. It is only bad when it is currently snowing. Although some people still don't seem to know to slow down, or increase their stopping distance, most of the drivers seem sensible. I just have to figure out how to get my windshield washer fluid to work consistently.

Things around the church are going well. We made announcements about decorating the church, mostly to the effect of if people didn't volunteer to do it, the church wouldn't get decorated. The church got decorated. From what I've heard people staid around and had a lot fun too. I'll be doing some home communion visits next week, and also meeting with my first group of confirmation students to discuss with them their faith statements.

Today looks to be a long day, I was here at 7:30am for the President's meeting, and I'll be here through this evening because of the confirmation concert event happening. We're having a gospel rapper, Agape, come here and put on a show. I've never been one for rap, but the confirmation students and Lynette seem excited.

St. Thomas Meditative Service

First off I must say thank you to all those who made this service possible. There were many hands and many meetings that made this event one to remember.

We had a good turn out for a new event, about 60 to 70 people. There is just something so inspiring about an evening service. The whole mood changes. I talked with some folks afterward and many simply said they couldn't really explain it, it just felt different. It wasn't as busy as a normal worship service, there was time to just sit and pray, and connect with God. Probably half of the people who attended made time to walk the labyrinth. I walked it myself a little bit, and read the messages along the path, many describing where they see God. "I see God when I am hurting and crying" one message read, one person had written, "I see God in YOU." I can't really describe the feeling, but walking that path I felt joys and sorrows, and moved in my soul. As an intern pastor, or pastor in general, Sunday worship is more work than worship. So the chance to take time and worship God in a way that helped me to personally connect was a refreshing experience. The music was perfect for the evening, and the message that Pastor Ed gave was so fitting. At the end of the evening I was able to light a candle and place it among the many others as I prayed at the altar, a symbol of a personal connection with God while also being among the community.

No Trick, Just a Treat

Yesterday was Halloween (Happy belated Halloween) and for those of us in the Lutheran church, it was also Reformation Day (Happy belated Reformation Day), when Luther nailed the 95 theses to the door at Wittenberg. You can check the wiki here.

The church that I am at internship at Our Saviour's Evangelical Lutheran, is holding an ecumenical service with other local churches. The service is based on the St. Thomas Mass, we're calling ours a St. Thomas Meditative Service, to avoid confusion. To spread the word about this upcoming event a few of us went out to the neighbors and handed out a church business card with life savers attached, the card also had information about the upcoming service. I think that most people were a little suspect at first, since we didn't have kids with us, but many warmed up to the idea and were at least nice. We'll have to see if it actually works though once we have the service this coming Sunday.

Great Planning, Poor Timing

So I titled this blog "From the Left Coast", because that is where I was when I started it, and it is supposed to be about my time and exploits at my seminary, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS). However, I'm currently doing my Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) in Fort Wayne, IN. It hasn't been bad. It's a fairly interesting city, it has been called "The City of Churches" because there are 300 churches representing some 50 denominations and religions. I don't know that I will be posting too much about the hospital, because of HIPAA it is best if I don't put up any information that could identify someone, kind of ruins confidence in confidentiality.

The other part of my "folly" in titling this blog "From the Left Coast" is that after this we'll be heading to Minnesota for a year before we go back to California. I could change the title, I'm not going to, I just thought I should mention the possibility. I'm keeping it, it reminds me of the good things that I have been a part of out there.

Shaken, not stirred

Well I'm not sure, but I think this makes me an official Californian now. I have been through two earthquakes. "Been through" is really an overstatement. The first one I thought was just someone wrecking into the building, made more noise than shaking. This latest one was bigger, and actually shook the building. Much cheering and rejoicing ensued, as the Delaware apartments survived intact. The latest was a 4.2 which we all felt and then followed by a 3.4, 2.8, 1.8. I think it is moving along a fault line. The information is available from the U.S. Geological survey. They have real time earthquake maps, you can visit here: USGS Earthquake Map SF
Sarah and I were watching an episode of Alias, which always ends with a cliff hanger so don't watch it unless you have the next DVD, and I seriously debated on if we should get up and move to a doorway. Then it stopped, so we finished watching the episode while everyone else celebrated. We're sooo not from around here. Anyways things are well here.

First New Blog...long time blogger

Greetings,
Well I figured I would start a new blog for the new year. Mostly so I can share my ponderous exploits out here in Berkeley, CA (I must admit it is tough for me to not put my location down as U.S., minor outlying islands). No this is not SoCal, the sun is not always shining and it is not always 80 degrees and time to head to the beach. We're in the Bay Area, right across from San Francisco.
I just got back from Mexico City, and Sarah is already in South Africa. Classes start tomorrow, and Sarah will be missing them for the next two weeks because her Cross Cultural trip started so late. So shortly here I will be off to Best Buy to pick up a digital voice recorder so I can record classes for her, because neither she nor I really trusts my note-taking abilities. At least for the sake of the notes being useful to her. She has already talked Chris into making sure he takes extensive notes, so I figure if she can find the time to listen to the classes (because we have so much free time...{sarcasm}). Things are going well out here though, more on my trip and life later.