Weekly post 2

January 30, 2008

Dear friends,

The chapel service on Tuesday went beautifully, and I was humbled and affirmed by the sensation of worship in community that it provided. The service that I designed for this community's worship unfolded and provided a space in which to draw near to God and one another, and to deliver the sermon to the community in which I am so rooted, and that has provided the wherewithal to write and preach the sermon, gave me a foretaste of what the best of congregational pastorate might provide.

I was touched also by the ministry of presence provided by so many who are important to me and the prayers of those who were present in spirit. It proved to be an exhilarating day, not prideful for me, but to be privileged to feel God moving through me for my brothers and sisters.
It was incredibly affirming to think that I may get to minister in this and related paths in the future.

Friends, never underestimate the weight of a kind word. More than once, I have had a net woven around me by words from those who love me and are loved by me, and yesterday was one such occasion. It was really something, and I find myself a bit stumped for putting the feelings into words.

In other news, Gehrig and Tobey have begun to play-wrestle together in the sort of dog scrum that pets are prone to, and Gehrig has begun to be more "at home" with the house and the people and animals in it.

My husband is 100 percent over his infection, but is faithfully continuing the antibiotics until they're gone, and he will see a urologist on Friday to ensure that all is well therein.

Thanks, again, always, for your role in our shared journey.
Grace and peace,
Beth

Weekly post

January 28, 2008

Dear friends,

Just a note today to say that I will post this week on Wednesday, because tomorrow I will be leading worship for the divinity school community. This might mean more to me than any worship service I've prepared and led so far, and I'm excited about it.

Just briefly, we did get the miniature dachshund puppy on Saturday, after nearly a year of discussion. His name is Gehrig, and he's a chocolate mini dach with traces of caramel. He's eight weeks old and about the size of two baseballs. Tobey and Scully are getting to know him, and he's getting to know us.

More on Wednesday.
Grace and peace,
Beth

Weekly post

January 21, 2008

Dear friends,

After much excited predictions from television weather people, we got ... a dusting of snow. Most of the storm spent itself east of us. Still, since it's the first actual snow we've had in four years, the children were excited.

Classes officially began last week, but it was a little hard for me to measure the impact. I didn't have any meetings, and I worked Thursday and Friday at the bakery. This week, however, I'll be on campus Tuesday, Thursday, and a chunk of Wednesday, and I'll have my first independent study meeting and first class session for Readings in Liturgical Theology. I'm pretty excited.

Yesterday, because the forecasters were speaking so direly about the roads, the crowd was thin for the 8:45 service. Only about 60 people showed up, and no pianist, because he lives near Burlington and was iced in. The pastor conferred with the choir and chose several hymns that were easy to sing a cappella and said that we would speak the liturgy. Since the choir was sitting in its usual place near the piano, after a whispered conference with a soprano, I slid onto the bench and started accompanying at hymn time. When it was time for Communion, since several designated helpers were absent, the pastor asked for volunteers and various helpers came forward and it all got done! It had to be experienced to be really understood, but it was a wonderful example of the worshiping community.

I had a different experience last Sunday afternoon, when Our Lady of Grace offered an Extraordinary Version of the Roman Mass in Latin. It wasn't just Mass ... in Latin ... it was what I guess they used to call High Mass. The church was packed, and many of the women had their heads covered. The service lasted for an hour and forty-five minutes! It was wonderful to experience. Many of the worshipers were clearly deeply moved by the service. I wouldn't want to worship that way every week ... but it was a terrific opportunity.

The senior project is coming along. I've gathered all of the quotes I need, and have about 20 pages written (out of 90). I can't seem to do more than 4 or 5 a day, so it's important for deadline purposes that I do at least one every day. I hope to have everything completed by the end of February, a month before deadline, to give myself a cushion.

One intangible gift that my parents passed along by example, and that I also learned in journalism, was the importance of meeting deadlines. I've never had to ask for an extension on a paper, never turned a paper in late, and am in great shape on the project because I've got in my internal workings a respect for the deadline. Thanks, Mom and Dad.

More next week.
Grace and peace,
Beth

Weekly post

January 14, 2008

Dear friends,

A new semester begins, and amazingly, my last at Wake Forest University Divinity School. Graduation is on Monday, May 19 -- mark your calendars! I'm also counting heads for lunch at the Village Tavern in Winston-Salem afterward.

On Saturday, I got my books and have been enjoying dipping into them. Six or seven for Readings in Liturgical Theology, and another four or five for the one-weekend Pastoral Preaching course. Gardner Taylor is simply too old and unwell to manage the travel and energy required to teach it, so an African American pastor from Charlotte will be in charge. I was very pleased to see the books already ordered and available in the bookstore, even though the course won't be until late February. (A Friday afternoon and evening and all day Saturday. Great fun.)

The holiday shipping at the bakery went well, and the owner reports no post-holiday complaints about mixed or missed shipments! Yay. Another yay: three days a week, the kitchen staff is present doing the baking, but on Mondays and Fridays they're not there. The owner has asked if I can be in the shop on Mondays and Fridays to handle the occasional walk-in customer and occasional phone order -- for most of the time, I'll be free to work on my senior project! It's akin to one of those work-study jobs where you person the check-in desk at a dorm... Very little work but a steady, if small, salary.

Speaking of my senior project, I have collected 78 of the 90 quotes I need and plan to finish the quote gathering by the end of this coming week. That will leave me open to write just two pages a day to finish on time. I've discovered that I can easily do two pages a day and sometimes up to four, so I'm on a good schedule to have all the writing done by the end of February -- six weeks ahead of deadline.

The folks at Southern have received my request for scholarship funds and I will be filling out the federal student loan papers in early February. They've also told me what I'll need to take and it looks very manageable, although I'll need to be sure to carry at least 12 hours to be eligible for financial aid. Certain courses are offered only in certain semesters, so I doubt I could compress everything into one.

"Beth,
Your MDiv was quite well balanced, so I don't think that we need tomake up for any gaps," the dean wrote. He said I would need the following: Fall Term: Parish Administration, Lutheranism in North America. Spring Term: Lutheran Confessions, Senior Worship Practicum (only a 1hour course). Will need to also take: 1 preaching course, 1 biblical course, and 1 theology course.

Some of the biblical courses require Greek or Hebrew as a prerequisite, but not all of them, and although Greek had me more than the other way around, I did pass the thing. I'll know more about my schedule in March.

Well!
Grace and peace,
Beth