Funeral at Family of God Lutheran Church

Yesterday I officiated at a funeral at Family of God Lutheran Church. I did this because I was covering for my friend Sigi Helgeson, the pastor of Family of God, while she was away on a mission trip.

I know Sigi because we both attend the pastor's text study that meets weekly at Silverdale Lutheran Church. Because of an agreement signed between the Lutheran and Episcopal Churches in the U.S., we have full interchangeability of clergy, and we can officiate at each other's altars.

Besides that, Family of God Church is just down Central Valley road from our house, and it's almost my neighborhood church. The deceased was a woman had had been with the church about 30 years. On Thursday I met with her family to learn about her life and help bring a sense of closure. It was very rewarding.

She was an artist, and they put on the altar a portrait she had made of Jesus. Along with the flowers, the brass urn with her ashes, and the quilted green altar hanging, it was quite lovely. I'm glad I could work with the people of Family of God, who were very welcoming to me.

Walkscore.com

According to walkscore.com, I live in a "car-dependent" neighborhood. What that means, essentially, is that I can't live without a car because I'm too far away from most amenities like grocery stores, schools, restaurants, cinemas and so forth.

Find out your home's Walk Score:

Of course, I already knew that. The Kitsap Peninsula is a car-dependent region because we're a product of the sprawl development of the '80s. Our neighborhoods are far-flung, isolated developments with no center or focus, and we drive all over the peninsula to get what we need.

There are a couple of interesting things about Walkscore.com. One is that a Walkscore is now included on real estate websites like zillow.com, and they claim that a point of Walkscore will add $3,000 to the value of your home. In other words, walkability has a dollar value today. People want to live in an environment where they can walk to work, school, stores, etc.

The other thing I found interesting is that my walkscore didn't include the availability of bus routes because Kitsap Transit doesn't share their computer applications with walkscore.com. So I filled out the form asking Kitsap Transit to open up and share their data.

By contrast, I checked out the Walkscore for my mother's house in a small town in rural Colorado. She got a 100 out of 100 because she lives a few blocks away from everything in her town!

Isn't it amazing what you can do with a computer?
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St. Antony's barn

Probably the most distinctive thing about St. Antony's is our barn. It's a leftover from the time when our property was a residence. Now we use the barn for storage and some activities like Vacation Bible School. For many years the barn was the site of the annual Barn Sale.

Today I had a little time in the late afternoon so I made this watercolor of the barn and the trees behind it.

St. Antony's newest Eagle Scout

Yesterday I attended the Eagle Court of Honor for Tristan, one of our young men at St. Antony's. I was honored to sit up front and offer the opening and closing prayers.

Tristan is an active member of St. Antony's, and for his Eagle project he created a prayer garden and path on our church grounds. Tristan is very active in our church, serving as acolyte and participating in our youth group.

The Court of Honor was held in a stunning location -- a promontory into the waters of Port Ludlow, surrounded by water and mountains on all sides, with the boats from Port Ludlow marina coming and going. An elegant reception was held nearby at The Resort of Port Ludlow. I drove to Port Ludlow and back with Daniel Ferguson, a young man from our parish now in college. Daniel is also an Eagle Scout.

 As I sat and listened to the recitation of Tristan's accomplishments, and the values and purposes of the Boy Scouts of America, I was reminded of my boyhood in Boy Scouts and all the things I learned. It's true that Boy Scouts molds the character of the young men in their program, and creates good citizens. Tristan's accomplishment is truly something to be proud of.

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Cleanup Day at St. Antony's

Today we had a cleanup day to spruce up the grounds at church. It was a tremendous success. About twenty people came and weeded, cut, trimmed, whisked, wacked, scrubbed and dug. The whole place looks wonderful, just in time for Bishop Rickel's visit next week.

What I learned at the College for Congregational Development

I spent eight days at the College for Congregational Development last week, and I learned a LOT. Here are some of the major topics covered this year:

The culture of a congregation. Every congregation has its own culture - the underlying assumptions that everyone takes for granted, the values espoused by the congregation (either tacitly or verbally), and the visible symbols found in the church. Sometimes the culture of a parish is positive and helpful, sometimes not. Sometimes it's necessary to change the culture of a congregation, say from inwardly-focused to outwardly-focused.

Appreciative Inquiry. Usually when we want to bring change to an organization, we ask, "What's wrong with this organization?" Appreciative Inquiry uses the opposite approach. It asks, "What's working well in this organization?" By building on what is positive and healthy, we have the best chance of success. People naturally respond to affirmation and reward. Starting with the healthiest people and programs, we seek to build on what is already working.

Anglican Spirituality and Temperament. Anglican Spirituality is Liturgical and Biblical; Communal; Pastoral; Sacramental; Incarnational; and Mystical. Anglican Temperament is Comprehensive; Ambiguous; Open-minded; Intuitive; Aesthetic; Moderate; Naturalistic; Historical; and Political.

Family Systems Theory. A congregation is an emotional system in which all the parts interact. Understanding triangulation, chronic anxiety, closeness and distancing, and self-differentiation can help a leader be more effective. An effective leader is self-regulated, non-reactive, and offers a non-anxious presence. A leader sets direction; manages resistance or sabotage; and stays connected.

Marketing the Congregation. When we live out our deep identity as a congregation and connect with the world's deep needs, then we are able to present ourselves as something valuable for people to come to. Marketing is not about "selling a product", but about building relationships that are authentic and life-giving. We start by understanding our true identity and our deepest values.
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College of Congregational Development

This week I'm attending the College for Congregational Development at Dumas Bay Centre in Federal Way. This is my second year in a two-year program. Each year there is an eight-day session.

The program is an intensive training in Congregational Development. Each day is an exhausting string of lectures, small group sessions, practical exercises, and intense discussions. CD is the result of a great deal of research and writing by experts in organizational development as applied to churches. We've discussed systems theory, culture change in organizations, leadership theory, self-differentiation, Episcopal Church culture, congregational cycles, and so on. Immensely interesting....but it seems like an overload of information that needs time to sink in.

I brought back a number of practical applications from CCD last year, and I'm sure I'll have useful results this year also. Well worth the time.