First Snow in Chicago & the Pastoral Journey

Pictured to the left is our parsonage and the adjacent Early Childhood Center on W. Bryn Mawr Ave. in Chicago. They are under the first snow of the 2009-10 winter. It was a lovely sight to see, though I know I'll be sick of the snow by late January or early February.

The kids were thrilled, and as I walked them to school this morning it was tough to keep them out of it! In any case, I welcome the snow. There is something about it that lightens my step, especially after the l-o-n-g day yesterday...

I was up at 4am (typical for a Sunday) and then off to practice my sermon and the service for a couple hours. My wife still has the flu, so I was able to help a bit with getting the kids ready for service. My eldest daughter volunteers to babysit some little kids while I teach a new member class at 9:00 a.m. The class went well, and then we had a fine worship service at 10:00 a.m. I am preaching a special series of sorts for the Sundays of Advent and Christmas that I am calling "St. Philip Celebrates." Each Sunday we meditate on a key concept from the Epistle reading. Here's an outline:

Advent 1 (29 Nov 2009): Love 1 Thes 3.9-11

Advent 2 (6 Dec 2009): Partnership Phil 1.2-11

Advent 3 (13 Dec 2009): Prayer Phil 4.4-7

Advent 4 (20 Dec 2009): Offerings Heb 10.5-10

Xmas Eve (24 Dec 2009): Family 1 Jn 4.7-16

Xmas Midnight (24 Dec 2009): Liberty Titus 2.11-14

Xmas Day (25 Dec 2009): Inheritance Titus 3.4-7

Sun > Xmas (27 Dec 2009): Patience 1 Jn 1.1-2.2

The readings from the New Testament epistles ("letters") are often commentary on the Gospel, which itself is fulfillment of the Old Testament, so it has been enjoyable to weave these together in a way--I am finding--that connects the whole of the Scripture to present.

After an enjoyable morning service and some cafe time afterwards, I continued my short after-service class entitled "Worship: Why We Do What We Do." After that, from 12-2pm we had a community open-house at the preschool and grade school. The open house provided the opportunity to meet some friendly prospective families, which was a pleasure. After the open house I had the less-pleasurable part of the day: two hours of budget meetings in which we're trying to figure a way to keep our program whole and somehow emerge from the recession without the benefit of a now-nearly-depleted endowment. Fortunately, we have some good minds on the project and a lot of excellent people serving St. Philip. We are trusting the Lord and working hard. It will be nice to look back and see how the Lord got us through this. The time in the valley now, however, is very challenging.

After the budget meeting I had the opportunity to preside at our new twice-monthly 1st & 3rd Sunday) Sunday Night Service at 5:00 p.m. This is an abbreviated service, held in a chapel, and conducted somewhat like what I do with my shut-in or nursing home communion services, but with the full Sunday morning sermon. The Sunday Night Service provides--as I found at my previous parish--a blessed "intimacy," an opportunity for worship for those who work on Sunday morning or late into the night on Saturday. It also provides an opportunity for those who--for whatever reason--find it difficult to walk through the big doors and see all the people at the typical Sunday morning service. It is, by virtue of the setting and numbers, a more "informal" service, a good place to either begin one's journey in Christ or begin the journey back for those who have been away for a while...

After the night service I went home to have dinner, put on my jammies, and "crash," but dinner was interrupted by an emergency phone call from a member about a fellow-member who is in the hospital with a stroke. Thus, it was back into uniform and service for a short trip to the hospital. There I was greeting by an active member who was doing quite well and surrounded by friends and family. So often at visits of this sort the person in the hospital is alone and feels a bit abandoned. Here, I could see, was a friend beloved by many. Thus, in spite of how tired I was, it was a great encouragement to see Christ at work.

All in all, it was a long day, but a blessed one. Now, today, I have another long day, but one that concludes with the joy of a prospective member visit, and then--hopefully--a little time with the family before bed time.

I am loving my pastoral journey in Chicago. It is challenging in every way that I imagined it would be... and in some ways that I would not have imagined!!! :)