Ray Berglind Mini-Golf Tournament

Last Saturday I attended the Ray Berglind Memorial Mini-Golf Tournament. This is my third tournament, and this time I actually won!! I was so relaxed after a good vacation, I could putt perfectly.

Ray died about 7 years ago, and his family hosts this tournament each year in memory of Ray. The proceed go to Communitas, the non-profit organization that runs several homes for the disabled. Ray's grandson, Devon, is a resident in one of the homes.

The weather was beautiful and we had a good turnout of folks from St. Antony's. Fun for everyone!

Vacation!!

My sons and I on Cape Mountain on the Oregon Coast

I just returned from a week of vacation. What a blessing it was! I traveled down the Oregon coast, had time with my family, saw good friends, enjoyed nature's beauty, and made some sketches.

There's something about getting away from home that is good for the soul. When I get about two hours down the highway, I begin to feel the weight of anxiety lift from my shoulders. The ordinary workday stress melts away, and I feel relaxed and refreshed.

Last Saturday, Katy and I went to Portland and had lunch with our two sons and Chad's girlfriend, Brittany. Then Guy and Chad and I camped on the Oregon coast, visiting friends and hiking to some of our favorite places. Later in the week, Guy and I camped near Long Beach, Washington, where I made a couple of sketches. What a fun week.

Interestingly, the NY Times recently had an article on clergy burnout:

"Members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life expectancy has fallen. Many would change jobs if they could....A growing number of health care experts and religious leaders have settled on one simple remedy that has long been a touchy subject with many clerics: taking more time off."

The article, found here, reports that many denominations are encouraging their clergy to take vacations as a way of preventing clergy burnout and ill health. I agree! My vacation was refreshing and I'm ready to jump back into parish life.
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Celebration of New Ministry for Kathleen Kingslight

Katy, Kathleen, and me

Tonight Katy and I attended the Celebration of New Ministry for Kathleen Kingslight, the new rector of St. Paul's, Bremerton. It was a wonderful service with much celebration, joy and good music as Bishop Greg welcomed her. The people of St. Paul's are obviously delighted to have Kathleen as their rector -- and it showed! I'm very pleased to have an Episcopal clergy colleague so close, and I hope we'll be good friends for many years. Congratulations, Kathleen!

Bible Study at Vintage Apartments

Vintage Apartments

Yesterday I led my third Bible study at Vintage apartments. We're studying "blessings" in the Bible, starting with the Aaronic blessing in Numbers 6:25-26, looking at the many blessings given in the story of Ruth, and continuing with the blessing of Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3.

We've had 5-8 people join us each time, and we've had some good conversations. As always with a Bible study, I open with a time of sharing and close by asking if anyone needs prayers. The residents of Vintage Apartments are low-to-middle income, and many are single women in their seventies and eighties. Several of them gave them a story like this: "When my husband died, my kids wanted me to move closer to them, and they found this apartment for me. So here I am."

In the story of Ruth, Naomi finds herself widowed and alone. As we read the story, it occurred to me that many of these women are like Naomi. They're isolated in their apartments, grieving the loss of their homes and their friends, and looking for support. I hope that our Bible study will be some comfort.

After the Bible study, I made a sketch of the apartments (above).

Election Day

Today was the last day to turn in a ballot for the Washington primary. I got mine in!

I was taught that voting is the responsibility of every citizen. Of course, it's a great privilege, too, but primarily it's the duty of every person in a democracy. Our freedom is precious, and if we don't participate in the democratic process, eventually we as a country will suffer.

So...Vote!

Centering Prayer at St. Antony's

Today, as every Wednesday, we had Centering Prayer at St. Antony's. We have a small but faithful group that gathers weekly to sit in a contemplative silence for twenty minutes. These weekly sessions are a wonderful way to rest, recharge, and renew.

Although I do twenty minutes of Centering Prayer every morning, I still find these group sessions to be helpful. There's something especially powerful about sharing a time of silence with others who also know this practice. The group time adds to the individual time and reinforces it.

It's not all time in silence. We spend the first half hour or so catching up on our lives and sharing. Then we set the timer and move into our contemplative time. If you haven't tried it yet, you should join us!

Barnival planning meeting

Today we had another planning meeting for the Barnival, our barn carnival on September 4. One of our supporters made this poster which we'll be distributing around town. We had a good meeting of ten people with lots of details worked out about products, pricing, locations, etc. We're on our way!

Annual picnic at Wildcat Lake

Today we held our annual picnic at Wildcat Lake. Unfortunately the sun failed to show up, and a mild drizzle discouraged many people from coming. Those of us who did come had a wonderful Eucharist in the new barn and a very pleasant time eating good potluck food together. Not to mention a rousing game of croquet on the lawn afterward!

Vacation Bible School, Day.....4

VBS games

Today was Day 4 of Vacation Bible School.  I can tell I'm running out of steam.  Doing a drama of a Bible story every day is pretty taxing, and the kids are naturally very rambunctious. I think I'm getting too old for this. One more day!

One of the stations, where the kids learn something about God's creation using science. We've got some great scientists.

On of the kids favorite stations is snacks.

Vacation Bible School, Day 3

Today I told the children the story of the woman at the well in John 4.  Yesterday afternoon I spent hours making the mural that you see behind the kids. The "well" is on the right. Last night I fussed over my costume to make me look like the woman at the well. I told the kids to use a lot of imagination!  Today was "hump day" for VBS.  Only two more days...

Bible Study at Vintage Apartments

Today I led the first session of a Bible study at Vintage Apartments in Silverdale. This is a large complex of senior apartments not far from our church. One of our members lives at Vintage Apartments and asked me to lead a Bible Study.

Six women showed up, and we made introductions and got started on a class on "Blessings in the Bible." We talked about how we've received blessings in our lives and we read the Aaronic blessing in Numbers 6:22-27. Almost all the participants are new to the apartment complex, so we were forming new relationships. It was a good start and I enjoyed our Bible study. We'll meet again next week.

Vacation Bible School, Day 2

Today I was Elijah at Vacation Bible School. You can see the "mountain" behind me with the cave where I pouted before God called me to stand before him on the mountain. It was a lot of fun, and I think the kids enjoyed having a prophet to tell them about God, but I wonder if I'm getting too old for this. I was exhausted afterward! Maybe that's why we have children when we're young.

Today Daniel Ferguson stepped in to be the Galactic Blast Commander with his sidekick, "Galileo" the gorilla. He did a great job and Kathy Little continued with her superb energy and enthusiasm, leading music, inspiring the leaders and rounding up kids. Tomorrow: Day 3!

Vacation Bible School, Day 1

Today was the first day of Vacation Bible School at St. Antony's. We're using the "Galactic Blast" curriculum from Cokesbury, which focuses on God's creation.

There was a last-minute flurry to prepare for the event, but everything seemed to come together for the opening morning. Peter Stockwell (above) opened with a dialogue with Galileo, the stuffed gorilla astronaut. The kids loved it. Kathy Little, with her endless energy, put everything together and led the music. She rocks!

Kathy Little

I was responsible for teaching the Bible story for the day, which was the creation story in Genesis. It was fun! (Although sitting on the floor with little kids for an hour left my knees complaining!) Tomorrow, Day 2!

CADO meeting in Seattle

On Thursday I took the ferry to Seattle for a meeting of the Clergy Association of the Diocese of Olympia. I serve as the webmaster for the group, so I try to attend the monthly meetings. It's quite enjoyable to be part of this group, but it takes nearly the whole day to go to the meeting and come back.

Burial at Tahoma National Cemetery

Last Wednesday I accompanied one of our families to the graveside at Tahoma National Cemetery where I said the Committal service and the deceased was given military honors for burial.

I was impressed by the military honor guard. They performed the military ceremony with great dignity and solemnity. A three-shot volley was fired, followed by the ceremonial folding of the flag which was then presented to the widow by a soldier on bended knee.

Tahoma National Cemetery is a beautiful setting. The site has been landscaped so that the road winds through the gently rolling hills, and the rows of headstones are surrounded by a backdrop of forested curves. Mount Rainier looms above the central road.

The ceremony was carefully scheduled and quite prompt. It was made clear to us that we were one of many burials that day, and we had to arrive and depart according to the schedule given, which we did. Very well done. My only complaint was the mushy poems recited by the elderly VFW veteran who acted as MC for the ceremony. They could have been omitted and let the crisp military honor guard carry the day.