One Christian's Trek

Senior Year!

2011-08-25T20:28:00.000-07:00

My final year at Sewanee officially began today when I attended Morning Prayer at 8:10am and went to my first class at 8:50. I think that it will be a bitter-sweet year for me and my family. These past two years at Sewanee have been some of the best of our lives, but we also are very excited to be going back to Florida next year (an experience we had a nice taste of at my internship this past summer.)

The photo above is all the Diocese of Florida folks who are now at Sewanee. Included are three second year students: Garcia Barneswell, Jessica Babcock, and Quinn Parman. There is a first year student, Chris Cappaldo. And - the Rev. Kammy Young, who is the new Contextual Ed professor at Sewanee.

More later...

blessings,

Jon

Internship Complete

2011-08-03T02:27:00.000-07:00

Wow! This has been a busy, busy summer - filled with fun, work, and blessings. I've spent the last six weeks at Church of Our Savior, Camp Weed summer camp, and our Diocesan office - in addition to visiting as much as I could with family and friends. I had a chance to see several ministries in a variety of settings and really felt my own call to the priesthood being lifted up by many faithful people.
In every place I went, I could see Christ at work in the world, reconciling people to God and to each other, it was really beautiful and rewarding work.

Church of Our Savior was wonderful to me and I'm so grateful to Father John,Mother Ronnie, and their staff and volunteer leaders for their time. Last week was the Diocesan Office and it was excellent to meet the Bishop and his staff; it is a busy place and they really do a good job supporting the churches. My time at Camp Weed was also just great, especially the week I spent there with Marti and our kids (which made for a sweet homecoming for Brennan as he got back from China the day before we left for Camp).

We'll be back in Sewanee in a few days and we are looking forward to resuming our life there, but I will never forget the folks who shared their lives and their faith with me this summer.

Church of Our Savior

2011-07-07T05:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I had a nice break for a few weeks after the preaching conference, but now I'm back to work. My internship is at the lovely Church of Our Savior in south Jacksonville, right on the St. John's river. The parish is really nice, with a friendly and welcoming congregation and great clergy leadership. The church does a lot of outreach, especially with feeding and clothing the poor and they also have incredible programming for children and youth. Their vacation Bible school last week had 135 kids and around 70 adult volunteers.

There are five worship services each week, which are mostly traditional Rite I and Rite II services from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. They do, however, have a healing service during the week and the Sunday night service is contemplative. During my time here I have been able to preach a few times and to serve at the altar. Both of these activities are a treat for me and I appreciate the opportunities.

My clergy mentors are Father John and Mother Ronnie. Fr. John is a loving and gentle priest who has worked in parish ministry for over 25 years. He has been very generous with his time; sharing both the blessings and the challenges of ministry with me. His congregation love him very much and their appreciation for his ministry is obvious. Mtr. Ronnie is an old friend from my home parish who went to seminary about 4 years before me. She has matured into a wonderful priest and it has been great to talk to her about the fun and the struggles of her first few years of ministry.

I am so pleased to have been assigned to COOS for the summer, it is a great blessing!

Preaching Conference at Villanova

2011-06-06T21:41:00.000-07:00

Wow! I'm finally a seminary senior and it is nice to be off for the summer... sort of. I start my diocesan internship on June 20th at Church of Our Savior in south central Jacksonville. I'll also spend a few weeks at our diocesan camp and a week at the diocesan office. It promises to be a full and rewarding summer.

This week I'm at an Episcopal preaching conference at Villanova University in Philly. The conference is great and it is a thrill to meet and preach with talented seminarians and clergy from all over the U.S. The conference has many highlights, but probably the best part is our small-group discussions and prayer time.

I miss Marti and the kids and I look forward to getting back to Florida on Friday. More specifically, Marti, Aidan, and Joshua, since Brennan is in China for six weeks with my in-lawws. He is doing great and having fun, but that's a long way away for our 11 yr old and Marti is especially saddened by his absence.

I'll be worshipping in lots of different places this summer, but I'm really most excited about being at our home church for a few Sundays. I hope to see some of you there!

faithfully,

Jon

Why we're here...

2011-03-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

As much as I love Sewanee, it is really wonderful to be over half way through with seminary and moving on towards parish ministry.

For one thing, I have learned to relax and enjoy myself in class and around our faculty. This is saying a lot, because the academic environment can be really intimidating - the professors are super smart and the work is tough, plus you still have to do things like feed the kids and wash the dog.

Another cool thing about this point in seminary is that you are good friends with seniors who will soon graduate. Of course they will be dearly missed (and the weight of that fact hasn't been felt yet), but it is awesome to be there during ordinations, to learn about the priests and dioceses that they interview with, and to watch as they leave and are welcomed into new church homes.

Finally, by the middle of the second year of seminary you begin to recover from the first year. Going to seminary is kind of like joining the military - first they break you down... and then they build you back up into a new you. My classmates and I are now in this rebuilding process and it is fun. Unlike the first year, we get to preach in chapel and do field work in local parishes. It is such a blessing to apply what we learn in the classroom to the everyday practice of ministering to and with God's people. It's why we're here!

Episco-Presbyterian Ash Wednesday

2011-03-10T06:05:00.000-08:00

Last night I lead the Ash Wednesday service at the Presbyterian church where I am working. This was only the second time that I've been the one to impose ashes on a congregation (the first time was at San Jose Episcopal, where I did an internship a few years ago). The simple act of forming a cross in ashes on the forehead of people who you know and love is powerful and emotional. It is one of the best reminders we Christians have of our human mortality. It also makes our resurrection hopes seem incredibly personal and desperately immediate. "Remember that you are but dust, and that to dust you shall return," is a painful statement to make as you look into someone's eyes and really see them; really see their humanity, their steely strength and their profound frailty.

I've also been pondering the ashes we use, which come from the dried husks of last year's Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday, Jesus' triumphal march into Jerusalem as the king and Messiah, reads differently for me each year. Sometimes it is a real triumph, like the Lord of the Rings; a king from a lost, ancient lineage returns to rescue his people from obscurity and oblivion. Sometimes it reads like a farce, the sad story of a weary hero, going through the motions to let his people know how things might have been... how it might have looked if he had come to earthly power, to reign in peace and tranquility over Zion - over a new Eden.

And so the cycle goes; each year we gather up our King's palms and let them dry in a dusty corner, waiting for that time when we'll look into each other's eyes and say that, like our Savior before us, we too will die dreaming of the peaceable kingdom.

Back to School for Easter Term

2011-02-05T07:06:00.000-08:00

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Classes started again a few weeks ago and everything is going fine. I'm taking Anglican history, history of liturgics, contextual ed, and systematic theology. I enjoy all the classes and the workload is moderate. I especially like Anglican history; it's nice to know where we come from. I also really like systematic theology, because it is providing a solid framework on which to lean all of our previous courses.

My family is doing well. My sons Brennan and Aidan are 11 and 9, respectively. Both are A/B honor students. They are also into scouting and will start baseball soon. My youngest son Joshua just turned 2 and he is sweet and friendly. My wife Marti has been stuck at the house a lot lately with the kids due to unusually cold and snowy weather. Last night we won a “Dating Game” contest at a couples’ dinner, which I think is proof that I actually do listen to Marti when she talks to me.

I am still working with First Presbyterian Church in McMinnville, which is about an hour from Sewanee. It has been fun to learn about the Presbyterian way of doing worship and I think they've learned a bit about Anglicanism.

Our family will be in Jacksonville for at least eight weeks over the summer so that I can do a diocesan internship. The internship is four weeks at a parish, two weeks at Camp Weed, and one week at the diocesan office. We’ll be staying at Marti’s parents’ house (they will be traveling in China with Brennan).

Blessings,

Jon

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-23T13:43:00.001-08:00

This semester is really flying by! It seems like we just resumed classes, but really the term is almost over. Classes have been great. The focus this term has been on pastoral theology, preaching, and Christian history, especially the early Church. It has been a particular thrill to be working in a church and preaching almost every Sunday because I get to apply the lessons I learn during the week to my preaching work on Sundays. I also visit many elderly persons from my church who cannot attend church. This is a genuinely sweet part of parish ministry and it is always an honor when folks invite you into their homes and allow you to share the good news of Christ with them.

Marti and boys continue to thrive. Brennan and Aidan recently celebrated birthdays, so they are now 11 and 9, respectively. I think it is amazing to be a parent and to watch children grow from small babies into young people. They are both doing great in school, have lots of friends, and are generally pleasant and good guys. We're quite proud. Joshua is almost two and his overall attitude towards life is reflecting the truth of the "terrible twos". He is into everything and loves to scream and cause a ruckus. He is still very sweet in his quieter moments, but those don't last long! Marti is enjoying her class and singing for the choir. Her many friends provide her with a lot of support and fun, plus they all have kids around the same age as Joshua.

We continue to pray for Bishop Howard following his recent surgery. I do not know any details, but I have heard that he is recovering well. Father Mark from St. Andrews visited last month and that was a great treat for us. I am so glad we are staying in contact with our Florida friends and we look forward to a happy reunion when school is finished.

We are spending Thanksgiving in Sewanee this year, but we will be in Jacksonville for at least ten days after Christmas. My last service at our church here is on the 26th, then we'll head for Florida. We hope and pray that you all have a great holiday season and are especially blessed during the quiet and peace of Advent.

Yours in Christ,

Jon

Great visit to Jax!

2010-10-23T06:29:00.000-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Thanks to all of you who made our recent visit to Jacksonville so wonderful! We had a great time visiting with friends and family while also getting a much needed break from studies and work at the seminary. It feels like we packed in a lot of visiting on our trip, and yet we were unable to see so many great folks, I hope that if we missed you that we'll be able to catch up during our longer visit at Christmas.

One of the many blessings of our trip was attending the worship service at our home parish on Wednesday night. It was wonderful to receive Eucharist in our beautiful sanctuary; surrounded by old friends. It was also great to see many new faces, since St. Andrew's is enjoying a period of significant expansion under the leadership of Father Mark and senior warden Ann. I have always loved the special, almost indescribable, warmth of worship at St. Andrew's... surely the presence of the Lord is in that place.

Our trip ended with a really fun trip to Disney. It was a perfect day, the weather was fine and their were no crowds at all. We spent 5-10 minutes waiting on rides, which was amazing, I'm accustomed to hour-plus waits. The Magic Kingdom employees seem to finally appreciate how much people are spending to be there - my past experience of a 'plastic welcome' has been replaced by genuinely appreciative staffers who were happy to have jobs and happy to have customers. Marti and I had a fun walk down memory lane as we enjoyed the old rides like Pirates and Small World. The kids loved Space Mountain (also an old fave) and Thunder Mountain. The baby cried at almost everything, but he seemed to like the Peter Pan ride. All in all it was a great time and we really thank those of you who made the trip possible.

blessings and peace

Jon

Back to School

2010-09-20T17:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I have posted on my blog, so if are one of the faithful few who missed me, I apologize.

The reason for my absence was that I spent my summmer as a chaplain at a trauma one hospital in Chattanooga. I am not exaggerating when I say that it took everything I had just to climb into the car every morning for the drive from Sewanee. The chaplaincy was much tougher than I expected, the hours were long, the patient situations were challenging and the counseling and teaching we received was unrelenting. All that said, I have no regrets at all. There were many days when I felt like quitting, but I'm so glad I didn't. This type of chaplaincy work, called "Clinical Pastoral Education" is designed to push all of your buttons, sort of like bootcamp, and I assure you that all of mine were pushed! But I learned so much about ministering to suffering people and helping them accept and feel Christ's love that it was worth it. I also learned on a much deeper level how helpless I am without God. I was also able to do my chaplaincy with three other students from my seminary and this may have been the best blessing of all because in the course of the summer we forged friendships that will last a lifetime.

So, school is back and I am student once again. It is so nice to be in class and chapel, to have my routine back. It has also been great to advance to my middler year, the new students seem so starry eyed and overwhelmed, boy I don't miss that!

My prayers for continued blessings and peace go out to all of you,

Yours in Christ,

Jon

Chaplain Jon

2010-06-11T05:40:00.000-07:00

This week marks the beginning of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) for most of the students from my class at Sewanee. There are four of us who are commuting from Sewanee to Chattanooga to work at Erlanger medical center. Erlanger is the Level 1 trauma hospital for a large region which includes parts of TN, GA, NC, and AL. This means that in the course of the next ten weeks we are likely to see victims of car and motorcycle accidents, gun shot wounds, strokes, heart attacks, major traumas, etc.

The point of CPE is to expose seminary students to pastoral care in a hospital or rehabilitation setting. As such we are assigned to provide chaplain services to various parts of the hospital and other local facilities, like hospice.

In my first few days I felt very overwhelmed and inadequate to the task, but the staff and long term students who are training us have been very helpful and I am beginning to understand the role of chaplain much better. Within the scheme of activities in the hospital, from surgeries to diagnosis and so on, the chaplain's role is to provide comfort, a listening ear, and a shoulder to cry on. In a humble and quiet way we are to be the face of Christ to suffering people, whether they are Christians or not.

Probably the most important thing to remember in all this process is that God is in charge. What this means specifically in pastoral care is that God will be caring for his children and providing them with all they need to be whole. This can be hard to see while folks are going through profound suffering, but it is true. Approached from this point of understanding, the chaplaincy becomes an opportunity to meet fellow pilgrims in tough places on their journey and spend some time with them. That's really about all we have to offer... I want to think that we offer hope, but patients and family who are not looking for hope probably won't find it in me. I want to think that we are offering faith, but again, those who aren't seeking faith probably won't find that either. There is a better than even chance that over the next several weeks I will meet people who are hostile or scared, but there will also be some who want to talk about baseball or show me pictures of their families... I pray that I can be of some use no matter where they are on their paths.

peace

Jon

Summer Plans

2010-06-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been out of school for almost a month now and the fun times are almost over! My family has spent the last week in Jacksonville getting some sun and rest and visiting with old friends and family. Overall it has been a great trip. We spent the first few days with my sister and brother and their significant others and offspring. I had lunch yesterday with a friend who will be at seminary with me next year. I also got to visit with our Bishop to discuss the state of the diocese and make some tentative plans for my field education next summer. Last night we did a slide-show of many of our pictures from Sewanee for our home church. That was great; it was wonderful to see everyone and try to catch up a bit. My older sons have been spending time with their friends and they’ve also gone surfing twice. Tonight we went out with my wife’s mom to have sushi, which is a real treat for a Sewanee resident!

This coming Monday will be the first day of ten weeks of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) in Chattanooga, TN. It’s basically a chance to serve as a hospital chaplain while receiving clinical oversight and having daily access to counseling as we (I’m on assignment with three classmates) face the challenges of dealing with the sick and suffering at a major city hospital. I’m excited and a bit nervous, but overall I think that CPE will be a welcome change from academia and a welcome challenge for all of us.

I send my heartfelt thanks to all who showed us such great hospitality during our visit to Jacksonville.

Blessings,

Jon

School's Out for Summer!

2010-05-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

I finished my last final at 4:54 pm on Monday, it was due at 5pm! Our finals schedule was brutal and we're all so glad to be done. In each class 35-50% of our grade was based on the final, so not matter what you had accomplished going in, there was plenty of opportunity to dramatically lower your grade for the class. Fun, fun, fun.

Even better, we'll be in Jacksonville for a the week of May 31 through June 5. This is going to be a great trip because I'll get to see a bunch of folks that I've been missing since Christmas.

Our family is so grateful to St. Andrew's and San Jose in Jacksonville, we've received so much love and support over this first year... it was truly amazing. I don't think any other seminary family has had the kind of help we've had and we brag on you all the time.

We look forward to seeing all of you in June and continue to pray for you each day.

blessings and peace,

Jon

Easter Trip to Jacksonville

2010-05-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures from Marti's trip with the kids to Jacksonville for Easter. They had a blast!

Easter Slideshow

Richard Smith

2010-04-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

Our beloved Greek professor is retiring this semester and we're all very sad to see him go. The Rev. Richard Smith is a retired Luther pastor (ELCA) who spent the last 25 years teaching New Testament Greek to hundreds of Sewanee seminarians. Pastor Smith is a gentle, encouraging man... you found yourself learning Greek mostly because he was so nice and he made it sound so enticing. In his class the New Testament just comes to life.

In addition to retiring, today was also the 57th anniversary of Pastor Smith's ordination. He spent 42 years starting and growing an amazing Lutheran parish in Tullahoma, TN. And during the last 10 or so of these 42 years he was also teaching at Sewanee.

Pastor Smith is an inspiration to every student who knows him and may be simply one of the finest people I've ever met. He will be missed.

why we're here

2010-04-27T20:38:00.001-07:00

Wow! This year has simply flown past... and yet it feels like we've been here for a long time. My junior year of seminary is almost complete and it has just been such a wild ride. The pace is not always overwhelming, but days turn into weeks and weeks into months much faster than they did in my old life. I think it's because we're headed towards something definite, a visible endpoint. Seminary is 3 years and one of them is nearly done...

As students we've spent a lot of time standing on the shoulders of giants these past nine months, in every class, from Church History to New Testament studies. No matter where we turn intellectually, some genius has gone before us and shown the way. There are lots of deadends, ideas that just don't pan out theologically or pragmatically, but we have found that the exercise is almost always fruitful, if for no other reason than to discover what doesn't work.

What always works is faith. Every time I start to stumble or find myself laid out by some new twist or idea it is Jesus himself that brings me back from the edge. And it is always and only the real Jesus that does this, no pretender can do it. The real Jesus is the one I see in other Christians, sometimes they're leading me or maybe I'm leading them; often we're just moving down the same path together. In worship, in prayer, at lunch, in my kids, in the classroom, at Holy Eucharist... somewhere each week, I wish I could say every day, I encounter the Risen Lord in all his bright-shining-glory and it is more than enough, it's everything. Grades and other concerns are forgotten and I remember why we're really here; to worship and to love, that's it.

Happy Easter

2010-04-03T22:15:00.001-07:00

Easter in Sewanee is something else! Starting with Maundy Thursday, it just rolls non-stop for four days straight.

First was the MT service in All Saints chapel; including foot washing, the stripping of the altar and then the all-night vigil commemorating Jesus' time in the Garden.

On Friday morning I went at 5am to process the Holy Elements from All Saints to the Seminary's Chapel of the Apostles (COTA). This is followed by a 9am Good Friday service at COTA, which includes the Veneration of the Cross of Christ. In this beautiful service a large cross is placed at the altar. As you approach the cross you kneel and pray three or four times. Reaching the cross you kneel and pray again. Many are moved to kiss the cross, some place their foreheads against the hard wood, weeping for the Lord's sacrifice for us.

Next is the Stations of the Cross at Otey Parish. This is the on-campus parish church that serves mostly the town folk of Sewanee and many faculty families. (All Saints and COTA serve mainly the campus and seminary communities.) The stations progress from Otey to All Saints, which is about a 1/2 mile walk. About 350 people participated in the Stations and traffic was blocked off so we could walk down the center of University Avenue. Carrying the cross with three other people for a few hundred feet was tough. I can't even imagine the strain on Jesus as he dragged his cross alone to Golgotha...

At Sewanee the Great Vigil takes place in All Saints. It started at 8pm tonight and ended just about an hour ago. You enter the nave in silence and darkness and then light the Easter fire. From this flame everyone lights a candle and the first half of the service is lit with candles only. Following the Vigil the lights came up and we celebrated the Resurrection with baptisms, confirmations, receptions and renewal of baptismal vows. We also celebrated the adoptions of two young children by the Dean of the seminary and his wife. That was amazing! The whole service was incredible and the sense of community and love was wonderful. I have no words to describe my sense of redemption through the Risen Lord.

Tomorrow I'll be worshipping at a little church where I'm interning, followed by more yummy food and further celebration. Maybe Monday I can sleep :)

Wishing you all of God's peace and joy in Christ this Easter!

Jon

Busy Busy

2010-03-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe how fast this semester is flying by! It feels like our Christmas break ended just a few days ago...

School is going well, the classes are great and we're learning a lot. I love them all, but especially Greek and New Testament, which are the two where we actually learn about and discuss Jesus, of all things!

In addition to school, I have also applied to work part time at a small church about 50 miles from Sewanee. If it all pans out, I'll be leading their worship services on non-Communion Sundays, helping out with pastoral care and doing some projects focused on church growth. The church has been around since the 1870's and they have a beautiful facility in the heart of a little town. The congregation is warm and friendly and I could tell the Holy Spirit was moving in awesome ways the moment I stepped into their sanctuary. I'm so excited about this, it would be a good position for someone just graduating from seminary, but for a student it is a dream.

Marti and the kids are doing great. We just got back from a short spring break trip to Nantahala National Forest in NC. We had 4 days and 3 nights with some of our fellow seminarians and their kids. We went on a few hikes, did some fishing, and played lots of board games (it was cold and rainy). Mostly we just relaxed and had some much needed fun! BTW, Joshua can walk with no assistance! (Oh Lord, he is into everything...)

I will be in Sewanee for Easter, but Marti and the boys are flying to Jacksonville. They can't wait to see everyone at St. Andrew's. The boys still miss home a lot and the transition remains a constant topic of discussion. For better or worse, every thing and every person gets compared to their counterpart back in Florida. I think it shows that real growth always comes with some pain and that real love does too. It is an odd thing to see your child hurt and know that it is not only ok, but actually the best thing for them. Growing up is rough, but necessary; although we do try to blunt the sharp edges as best we can.

The reason I can't go to Jacksonville is that Sewanee's Holy Week is mandatory. This is ok, because according to veteran Episcopalians from all over the country, it is absolutely amazingly well done; grand and reverent. All of us new students are very excited, but the middlers and seniors are just as thrilled. It is a huge affair involving the University chapel's two chaplains, half a dozen priests from the seminary faculty, both choirs, bunches of acolytes, readers, organists, etc. All this is for one purpose: celebrating the Resurrection of our Savior!

My final comment is a thanks to Harry Crosby and Gary Walker. They spent a few evenings last week replacing the failed water heater in our house in Jacksonville. It would have cost a mint to have had a plumber install that thing, you guys are the best! Thanks!

My love and affection to all of you, have a blessed Lent and a Holy Easter!

Jon

Favorite Episcopalians

2010-02-17T19:57:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of two of my favorite Episcopalians taken after our Ash Wednesday service. The service was lovely and I pray that everyone has a peaceful Lent filled with the Spirit.

Bishop Howard visits Sewanee

2010-02-08T20:20:00.001-08:00

I received a surprise email from Bishop Howard today indicating that he was in Sewanee and that he'd like to have lunch. I accepted immediately and we met a few hours later at a local eatery called the Blue Chair.

It was great to see the bishop! We got to talk about our recent diocesan convention, the state of "things" in our diocese and the church, and he asked me many questions about studying and living at Sewanee.

Our diocesan convention was a few weeks ago and it was simply a wonderful celebration of Christian community. Our diocese has been enjoying significant blessings and hope for the past couple of years; which is a great change from the previous 3-4 years of hellish division and struggle. I was happy to tell the bishop what a great time I had at the convention and how highly I thought of all the lay and clergy leaders who were there to share Christ and enjoy our mutual bonds of affection. We celebrated the reception of a mission church that had finally achieved parish status, began planning funding and other efforts for the Haiti recovery, met some of the vestry of St. Patrick's in Mississippi, who were there to announce the rebuilding of their parish buildings, and most impressively, were introduced to the first Spanish speaking congregation in our diocese. And those are just some of the highlights, it was a great convention!

Then the bishop went on to ask me about life at Sewanee and I just couldn't say enough about how great it is to be here. I love all my classes and classmates, the professors are amazing and life outside the classroom is full and fulfilling. I can't imagine being anywhere else, doing anything else right now. The Diocese of Florida is sending two more people to seminary next year and I can't wait until they come to visit in the next few weeks. One is pretty well convinced that she will be attending here, but the other guy is on the fence between Sewanee and VTS... I think (pray) his visit will seal the deal. Sewanee just has a lot going for it right now and it's an exciting time to be here.

One final thing to share is what a great visit I had at St. Andrew's last week. After the convention I was able to stay in Jacksonville an extra day and so I was able to preach at both Sunday services. It was so much fun and so good to see all my old friends. It's hard to preach at your home church, because they "know" you, but things finally fell into place and for the first time I heard my "voice" in the sermon. Finding your voice, your personal way of preaching, is something that all seminarians talk about. It's tough to do, but very worthwhile. Preaching is often under-rated in liturgical churches, but it's a vital skill and one that takes time and discipline to develop. Great preaching is a gift of the Spirit, but all priests should strive to be very good preachers.

blessings and peace,

Jon

New Term

2010-01-27T22:40:00.000-08:00

Well, the new term is under way and we're all doing great. It is such a relief to be a second-semester seminarian! Classes are great, everyone is rested and ready for work (mostly!) and we're so much more settled in to the ebb and flow of seminary life. It really is nice.

On the other hand, a lot of my new friends are seniors and they are already starting to interview for jobs that will take them far away from Sewanee. It seems like we just met and now they're gonna leave... A few have already been ordained as deacons, which makes it easier for them to find jobs since they can be ordained as priests as soon as they get to their new churches. One of my favorite seniors, who is now a deacon, told me that ordination changed him permanently and profoundly and then asked me to give him another few years before I ask him what exactly changed "permanently and profoundly." Being a first year seminarian, you feel like you'll be in school forever, but the truth is that it's over almost before you know it.

It is weird how isolated we can be here at Sewanee. Most of us didn't know about what happened in Haiti for a few days after the first quake. It's not that we're cut off from the news, it's just that we're very busy and you get into a habit of not knowing what's going on in the outside world. I am pleased that the news did not fall on deaf ears and there has been significant fund raising throughout the campus community, but it still seems striking to this former suburbanite that I would so quickly fall into communal habits of isolation.

My final comment is that our baby Joshua had his first birthday a few weeks ago. What a wild ride that has been! Having a baby in your late 30's is so different, you really appreciate all the changes and (hopefully) growth that have taken place in you and your spouse. It's been a incredible blessing to have another shot at parenting a baby because we've had so much fun and worried so much less this time. When I think back to how paranoid we were with the first two kids, I am amazed that they aren't in therapy, yet...

blessings from the Mountain,

Jon

Two Homes

2010-01-10T18:50:00.000-08:00

Well, we returned to Sewanee from our Christmas trip to Jacksonville about a week ago. It is cold and snowy outside. For the last five days the temperature high temps have been in the mid 20's and the lows have been around 10! My kids love it because they have been out of school since last Wednesday - for the very same reason, I wish it would warm up a bit...

Our trip to Jacksonville was wonderful. We spent the best part of two weeks visiting with all of our old friends from church, cub scouts and work. We also saw all of our family who live in Jax. Many of my new friends at the seminary had warned us to not have too high expectations for our visit, especially regarding how things would be different and we might not feel quite as "at home" anymore. This was not our experience though, what I encountered was that my dear friends in Florida had grown dearer. We didn't do anything fancy, just spent a lot of time visiting and chatting over coffee and lots of food, but it was the best. Our church has grown in the short six months since we left, but the new people were nice and many familiar faces were still there to greet us. Father Mark and the team lead some beautiful services, and as usual, St. Andrew's really shows off nice in her Christmas greenery. We also had a great time at the New Year's party at church, especially the amazing fireworks! Finally, on my last Sunday in Jacksonville I was able to drop by San Jose Episcopal and see my friends there, especially Father Stef. It was a great visit, start to finish.

Another thing that I really enjoyed about our trip to Jacksonville was being able to share about seminary. There were some questions about grades and classes, but for the most part folks wanted to know what it is like to study at Sewanee during this very transitional time in the Episcopal Church. I was delighted to have only good things to report. My classmates and I all started discernment after the "Gene Robinson thing" happened and therefore we've gone into seminary with our eyes wide open in terms of the different issues that are assailing the Anglican Church right now. That's not to say we're all on the same page, but I don't think that Episcopalians have ever been on the same page regarding anything besides faith in Jesus and our creedal beliefs. I can say that, God willing, all of my classmates should make fine priests some day and that the future of our denomination seems to be in good hands. This is a good thing and it was a blessing to be able to share some good news about the Church.

Since we've been back at Sewanee we've had dinner with our extensive seminary family almost every night. There isn't much to do up here and there's no money do it with, so you take turns cooking dinner for one another. This doesn't sound nearly as wonderful as it truly is. These nights are filled with kids playing and lots of laughter and fulfilling conversation. Having not much else to do forces us to do the thing we so seldom did when we lived in suburbia: live in community. A year ago I would never have thought that I would spend the bulk of my time with the same people day after day and love it so much.

Anyway, the trip to Jacksonville was wonderful, but coming back to Sewanee was too, either way, home is home.

Peace and blessings,

Jon

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T10:34:00.001-08:00

Well, we're finally home for Christmas and it is wonderful, yet bittersweet.

Wonderful: it is great to see all of our old friends and family again! We went to church at our home parish on Sunday and we'll be at both Christmas eve services tonight. We have had such a great time catching up with old friends and seeing how everyone is doing... somehow they've survived without us! The kids are having an absolute blast and spend every waking second playing with friends and shopping and baking with their grandparents. Marti and I are trying to get some rest and even the baby seems to be soaking in the peace of this well-earned break. We plan to visit St. Augustine a few times before we head back to Sewanee, especially for our anniversary next week (fourteen years).

Bittersweet: we miss Sewanee and all of our new friends. It is strange to be visiting and having fun and not be able to share or "debrief" with my trio of Sewanee cohorts. I also miss daily morning prayer and our chapel. The term ended on a good note, I think everyone felt secure about their finals, and surely no one is ready to start class again, but I think I do miss class already. It feels odd to have no assigned readings and no homework.

I think this is the way that seminary is supposed to feel, like an in-between time. You have two homes and no home, two lives and yet no "real" life just yet. So through prayer and with God's help a community comes together, a community of in-betweeners, all waiting for their "real" lives to resume.

My prayers for God's peace and blessings are with you all,

Jon

Snow Days, Rainy Days, Final Days

2009-12-13T06:30:00.000-08:00

So, our final exams are here and we (all the students and spouses) are very excited to have the term ending! Sewanee has been really great to us, but we're all a bit worn out and looking forward to a nice long break. Academic life is not harder than working life, but it is wildly different. Instead of having pretty constant streams of activity, which is what I had in my last job, we have constant streams of activity combined with blindingly furious outbursts of study and work, these come in the form of 8-10 page term papers and 4 hour essay exams.

It snowed on the mountain a week ago and that was so fun! The kids had an absolute blast and spent more time outside than they did when the weather was warm. The snow fell for just about 8 hours, but it stayed on the ground for 3-4 days, especially in the shadows and woods. Sewanee is a breath-taking campus, a really beautiful place, and when it was covered in snow, it was a winter wonderland that could make Santa jealous. Of course, since it is Advent and NOT Christmas, there is no Santa yet. It is a blessing to be in a place where Episcopal Christians are in the majority and to experience a whole community restraining itself from Christmas-mania in order to observe a holy Advent.

Today it is raining outside, the snows have been gone for days and it is warming up a bit. Last week we had lows in the 20's most of the week... that's pretty cold for a family from Florida. It seems like our gas furnace runs nonstop and we're looking into some insulated curtains for our bigger windows. We do have a large fireplace, which helps a lot, but the house can get pretty cold when the fire finally burns out after we all go to bed.

Next week we'll be headed back to Jacksonville for two weeks. This is such a thrill for us, we can't wait to see all of our family and friends and to worship in our home church. Despite our profound appreciation for being here, in the back of our minds we all recognize that living in Sewanee is temporary. See you all soon!

blessings,

Jon

Advent

2009-11-29T20:45:00.001-08:00

Well, exactly a year ago today I started my internship at San Jose Episcopal Church. It is hard to believe that so much time has gone by so quickly. In the 12 months since then, our son Joshua was born, my wife and I both quit our jobs and we packed the whole family and moved to Sewanee, TN for seminary (incidentally, I did finish my internship at SJE a few weeks after Easter).

Now I'm close to the end of my first term at seminary. It was excruciatingly difficult for the first eight weeks, but it has been wonderfully pleasant since midterms ended. There were so many unknowns and so many changes, it just took a while to feel grounded again. Life here is truly sweet and we've done our best to enjoy it. This past week Marti's mom came for Thanksgiving and we all had a great visit. I have been mountain biking two or three times a week and the kids spend lots of time outside - hiking and goofing off. We have finally found a place where we all like to worship... and believe me that is important! There are many options, but Marti and I could never agree with the kids on which place we wanted to go. Interestingly, we all enjoy the local Episcopal convent, St. Mary's, so that's where we have been attending for a few weeks now. The sisters are very nice and welcoming and the views from their clifftop perch are amazing. Anyway, it's just nice to be able to get the kids to church without resorting to WWF-style take downs.

We are just three weeks away from our Christmas trip to Jacksonville and we are all getting very excited. We can't wait to see all our old friends and spend some time at the churches we love so dearly. I have been on the phone with several Florida friends in the last few weeks and that just makes the prospect of going home that much better. We won't know our internship placement for next summer until February, but if all goes well, then we will have 11 weeks in Jacksonville starting in late May of 2010. That would so awesome.

Whenever I make a post on this "Christian Trek" blog, I feel like I should talk more about God. I think the most hopeful and useful thing to say about God and seminary is that God is in it with us. By that I mean that God, as revealed through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, is in all that we do here. I was really disappointed when I first got to seminary and discovered that we didn't have a weekly "lets just sit around and talk about Jesus" class. Actually we do have that class, but it takes place according to God's schedule. It is a class that is taught with much more humility and silence than my urban, ADHD addled brain had expected. For instance, I see God's teachings in the sincere affection that we share in this community. I experience lessons in overwhelming hospitality from every person I encounter here at Sewanee. I am awed by the incredible good work being done on shoestring budgets by the small local charities. I was even schooled today at the convent, when one of the quietest and nicest sisters did a brilliant job leading the worship service - wearing her collar. This is a woman that I have known since the beginning of the term, she is in two of my classes, but I had no idea she was a priest. Please understand that I have been planning to wear my collar 24/7 - for the first 2 or 3 years following my ordination... so the thought of someone not "showing off" their clerical and scholarly achievements is a real blow to my desire to inflate my own ego. Clearly there is a "Jesus" class at Sewanee, but don't bother trying to study or be on time for it...

peace,

Jon

update

2009-11-17T21:18:00.000-08:00

It has been a few weeks since my last blog and they have been good weeks. I did well on all my mid-terms and now I am preparing for finals. We are so excited about Christmas and the trip back to Jacksonville, it will be so wonderful to see everyone that we've been missing!

Another bonus of the last few weeks was that I got to visit with two of my favorite priests. Father Mark from St. Andrew's, Jacksonville was here for the DuBose lectures, which is the School of Theology homecoming. He stayed with us for a few days and we had some nice meals and great conversations. Then last weekend Father Steph from San Jose Episcopal in Jax was here for a Board of Visitors meeting. He took me and a few other seminarians out to dinner and we had a great time.

A week ago Saturday I interviewed for my clinical pastoral education (CPE), which consists of serving as chaplain for ten 40-hr weeks at a hospital, hospice, homeless shelter, etc. My CPE interview went well and I am being recommended for the program I want in Jacksonville. If I am accepted, we'll be in Jax all next summer. We were told to indicate two other choices, so we could end up in Naples, FL or I might have to commute to Chattanooga, TN. I don't think we'll find out which program we're in until next spring.

One of the other activities that preceed finals is signing up for our spring classes. I'm just going to take my core classes and I won't be taking Greek this time. I want to spend more time on the readings for my core work and I also would like to do some community service. It is surprising how little time is spent in actual ministry while you are at seminary...

One final bit of good news is that I will be attending the Diocesan Convention in January. I've been to convention for the past three years and I really enjoy them, especially because I get to see many people that I hardly ever run into otherwise. It's a bit of a diocesan homecoming and it will be neat to be there as a seminarian. Another plus is that the Dean of the School of Theology, here at Sewanee, will be the chaplain for the convention. He's a great guy and I'm glad that he and Bishop Howard are friends.

So, things are hopping at Sewanee! Everyone is pretty worn out and it's hard to believe that we're almost done with our first term of seminary. The seniors are already starting to make travel plans to interview with prospective churches. Some are also making plans to be ordained into the deaconate, which some dioceses do in December of the senior year...

life is good, blessings and peace to all,

Jon

Midterms

2009-11-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

Well, our last midterm exam is tomorrow and then we'll all be ready to breathe a sigh of relief! Last week we had our midterm exams in Greek, the Creeds, and Spirituality for Ministry. On Monday we turned in our 8 page term papers for Church History and tomorrow is the mid-term for Old Testament. Then we get about 4 days to relax and start getting ready for finals in early December.

As a first year seminarian, at the mid point of his first term, I think I can safely say that seminary is not a sprint! This is definitely a marathon. This morning we took a break from studying for tomorrow's test to review some mission work opportunities that are coming up. The key to a successful missionary project seems to be advanced planning... so we are working on a trip to either Costa Rica or Honduras in the summer of 2011. It is weird to think that two years from now we'll still be here at Sewanee, especially since so many of our friends will have already graduated and be serving in parishes all over the country. It's like we're continually waking into this dream of seminary and future ordained life that for so long seemed so far away.

Midterm brings to mind another aspect of seminary: Christmas Break. It's getting so close that we can taste it. As much as I am enjoying seminary, I am so looking forward to going back to Jacksonville for a few weeks! I have heard from other students that when you go back everything is different. I think that will be partly true for us; someone else is living in our old home, we don't have the same jobs, we don't shop at the same places anymore, etc. But, I think that the love and fellowship that we shared with so many wonderful people in Florida will remain unchanged. I do believe that absence makes the heart grow fonder and I can't wait to go home.

My final thought for this midterm post is about prayer, particularly intercessory prayer. We spent about an hour discussing the concept of prayer for others today in class, especially praying for God to act decisively in the lives of others. I felt very well prepared for this discussion because intercessory prayer is a big deal in the Christian community at my home parish of St. Andrew's. When I say "big deal" what I mean is that St. Andrew's believes in the POWER of intercessory prayer and lives out that belief in regular communal and personal intercessional worship. I learned so much from my brothers and sisters there about God's wanting us to bring all our troubles and fears to the altar and to actively ask for and expect help. At St. Andrew's they taught me that God answers every prayer and that there will always be healing; sometimes it's physical, sometimes spiritual, often it is both... Jesus taught us to pray and ask God for help in all we do. St. Andrew's showed me how to pray for every situation by praying in every situation.

blessings and peace,

Jon

Reading Week

2009-10-20T12:41:00.001-07:00

Well, we're already to the middle of Reading Week and that's about all I have done so far. It should actually be called "two papers, two essays and one test week", but at least "Reading Week" sounds friendlier!

The reason I've not done any work so far is all the blog entries I've been typing... Just kidding, it's actually due to my in-laws visiting for the last four days. We had a wonderful time (thanks Gail and Charlie!) but there was no studying. Also, my middle child Aidan turned eight on Sunday with a fun-filled Jedi adventure party. So, the weekend was super busy and we did two round trips to Nashville, which is 90 miles one way.

The reading that I have done is a biography on St. Francis of Assisi. What an amazing person he was. He lived a life of high velocity hedonism until his early twenties, but finding that to be empty and meaningless, he took a vow of poverty and committed his life to Christ. He was a small and sickly guy, which was not helped by his rigorous fasting and constant exposure to the elements in central Italy and his travels through Europe. He basically lived like a modern refugee. His commitment to poverty and self denial attracted many followers, but it was his love for common people and his empathy for their plight and suffering that endeared him to the world and made him a saint. The thing I like most about the ancient Franciscans was that they preached a message of hope and joyfulness during a very dark time in Christian history. The majority of their contemporaries preached damnation and misery for sinners, rather than salvation and the love God has for all His children. Francis spent much of his time meditating on the crucified Christ; an example we should all follow.

We've got another guest coming this weekend, a friend from our home parish and then the following weekend we'll be entertaining our parish priest as he comes to Sewanee to enjoy the seminary homecoming events (Dubose lectures). I sure hope that I can get some work done amidst all this frivolity!

blessings and peace,

Jon

Random sharing

2009-10-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

The week after next is called "Reading Week," during which no classes are held at the seminary. The purpose is twofold: we are supposed to get caught up on our unfinished reading and it gives us time to complete major assignments in each class. I appreciate having the time and I'm sure that I will be both catching up and also completing my major papers that will be due the week we get back. When I first saw that Reading Week was on the schedule I figured that a few people would use it to get caught up and that most would use it for time off and travel. I was wrong. Almost no one leaves during the week and there is probably more work getting done than at any other time during the term.

This past weekend has been Sewanee's homecoming for the undergrads. The school has a very scientific approach to managing their alumni relations and it has paid off significantly in terms of both school spirit and incredible monetary donations to the school. I have yet to meet a alum of the University of the South who does not love the school and the time they spent here. The homecoming events run on five year cycles, so this year the classes of 2004, 1999, 1994, 1989, etc going back to 1959 were celebrating their anniversaries. There were parties all over campus and at the large homes that dot the mountainsides within a five mile drive of the school. The seminarians, because we are older and hopefully more responsible than the current 18-22 year old undergrads, are called on to serve as bartenders, valets, and shuttle drivers for the weekend. I personally worked three events and met some really great people from the classes of 1969, 1974, and 1999. Since I come from Jacksonville, I am used to seeing incredible school spirit in the form of Gators, Seminoles, and Dawgs; but these are all very large universities. Sewanee has 1,500 current students and for much of it's history was much smaller. It was amazing to see that 25-50% of each class is still coming to their reunions (the class of 1969 had like 80 graduates and I met 30 of them).

Our life here is finally starting to fall into comfortable patterns. The fog and mist have settled in and the seminarians who have been here for a year or two basically told me to say goodbye to the sun for the next five months. Our bookstore sells "Fog Happens" t-shirts! On the plus side, it is always cool outside, the last several days have had highs in the sixties. Today Marti and I walked to one of the dozens of small waterfalls that dot the landscape and it was gorgeous. The hikes are strenuous, but not daunting, just tough enough to make you appreciate getting back to the house. The dog rolled in some deer poop (why do dogs do this?) and had to have a bath, but otherwise it was a great day on the Mountain. Aidan's birthday is next week and Marti's parents will be flying in to visit us for four days, so that all promises to be very fun and busy.

blessings,

Jon

It Matters to Them

2009-10-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

I have been praying lately for the children of the world and wondering what else I might do to help. A few nights ago I was reading the journal of an association of Methodist church women and the amount of outreach that they are able to support is astonishing. They work all over the globe doing community and education projects. The journal contained several pictures of kids living in garbage dumps and filthy shanty-town streets. Somehow most of the children were smiling and most looked like they were not starving; though not one of them was fat or tall. The smiling faces always surprise me. If I or one of my children was thrown into that kind of poverty I wonder if we would ever smile again. I remember watching television as a teenager and seeing the famines that hit Africa during the 1980's. It seemed incredible to me that there could be such widespread suffering. One thing about famines: there is always one somewhere.

One of my favorite charities, and one my family continues to support during seminary, is Compassion International. We sponsor two ten year old boys in Peru. We have sponsored Yosner and Kevin for about four years. We exchange letters and photos several times a year. It has been very rewarding to see them grow into strong young men who will one day be leaders in their communities. They both are very good students and are likely to go on to college. Our financial support goes towards their education and supplies; otherwise they both would have dropped out by now and gone to work for their families. Compassion International focuses on education as one major way to break the cycle of poverty in the developing world.

So, there are sad stories and there are unhappy endings, but there are also good stories and happy endings. Yosner and Kevin are by no means living the "good life" by American standards, but our little contributions do help and that means a lot to me.

peace and joy,

Jon

Head above water

2009-09-25T18:18:00.000-07:00

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

This week I have been trying to stay better connected to the will of God as it unfolds in my life. This happens best in community. I am never alone, I go to class, prayer, Holy Eucharist, dinner, etc. with fellow Christians. We are all very different, but the commitment to our creedal faith is strong and so far I've not detected any relativism towards who our Savior is or why we're here. Sewanee has it's faults, but not being faithful to God as revealed in scripture and our episcopal tradition does not seem to be one of them. I am deeply thankful for this.

My wife and kids are doing well. That is important because my commitment to them came before I answered this particular call to vocation. I've heard of people getting divorced so that they could go to seminary; that seems pretty outrageous to me, and makes me wonder what call they were hearing. We live in a society that accepts marital breakdowns, but I have to doubt that God ever told anyone to give up their marriage so they could be a priest. Not sure why I needed to say that, but it is what I believe.

Anyway, things are really good here. I feel like I belong, which is vital. And I feel that with God's continuing love and help I can make it, which is also vital. When I first started mountain biking (my hobby) I could barely go a mile or two without feeling like I needed to be hospitalized. After a while, I got good enough to hold my own with most other riders my age. That's where I feel I'm getting to at seminary. I'm not setting the place on fire, but I'm not an embarrassment either.

My continued thanks and well wishes to all my friends and family in Jacksonville, Sewanee and other places. And my continued love and allegiance to God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

blessings to you all!

Jon

Reality

2009-09-15T21:09:00.001-07:00

Last week was tougher than I expected. We're really digging in to the books and I've had trouble keeping up with my readings. My whole class pretty much bombed a quiz in Church History yesterday. The best we can say is that it was the first quiz and now we know what the professor expects... the other classes are going ok, but Greek is getting much tougher, I'm really having to apply myself to just keep up. The trouble is that after studying much of the day you want to have a break, but then you fall behind somewhere else. I just haven't learned the correct pacing yet.

I'm also trying to help out more with the kids. Marti misses working and all of the social outlets she had in Jacksonville. The spouses of the seminarians get together a lot, but she was used to working 5 days a week and spending lots of time around other adults. Now she's mostly at home with Joshua from 8am until 3pm M-F.

I have a lot of middler and senior friends and it seems like their lives aren't quite in balance either. I hope that we get credit for trying!

Many thanks to all of you who have worked so hard to stay in touch with us. I really appreciate your encouragement and support, it means more than you know.

God bless,

Jon

What it's like...

2009-09-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

I am having so much fun it should be illegal! We start each day with morning prayer, for the last six days we have been singing and chanting, it is glorious. Then I study for until lunch and go to class in the afternoon. Each class is challenging in it's own cool way.

Today we talked about Marcion and the Gnostic Gospels. Very strange belief systems that included seven layers of heavenly revelation, secret codes and amulets. The point wasn't the weirdness of the beliefs, though, the point was that the Gnostics (and others) were successfully promoting their beliefs and so the orthodox Christians had to respond. One of the first responses was to isolate 27 of the hundreds of writings that were circulating throughout the Christian communities and set them apart as Holy Scripture. We call these 27 writings the New Testament. How neat is that!

Tomorrow we'll be in Greek. I spent the last hour (9-10pm) with my friend Josh studying the conjugation of Greek verbs. I can now say the words "throwing", "leaving" and "speaking" in Greek in the first, second and third person, in both singular and plural. This is not very cool in it's own right, but if I keep taking Greek for all six terms, at some point I'll be doing small group work on Revelations or maybe Ephesians, and that is cool. To look at a bunch of squiggly symbols and see the revealed Word in the original Greek - goosebumps!

Not everything is study. Today the kids had the day off from school for Labor Day, so we went to the dining hall and had an all you can eat calorie fest. It's lucky we walk everywhere or we'd already be a much heavier family. Marti and the kids are thriving, making new friends and staying in that nice middle place where you're always busy, but seldom harried.

Anyway, I am having a blast and I am doing the work and it is going so nice. Thanks to all our loving sisters and brothers in Jacksonville and other places, your help and prayers and support are beyond anything we could have dreamed. We miss and love you all!

Blessings and peace,

Jon

Finally a student...

2009-08-31T21:32:00.000-07:00

Today was our third day of classes and I am tired! We had Old Testament and Greek on Thursday, the Creeds on Friday and today was church history. Each class is three hours per week, with 6-8 hours of study anticipated for the 3 hours of class time. I haven't worked like this in 20 years. I did get a study carrell, which is little office cubical at the seminary. There are about 25 or so people that get a carrell. The criteria is based mostly on how many kids you have, the more kids, the more likely you will get the carrell. My carrell mate is an RA (residential assistant) so he effectively has 40 kids he's responsible for... I only have my three!

I wish that I could say that I have deep theological thoughts to share, but really I'm just tired and I'm looking forward to tomorrow, it is a light day with only 1.5 hours of Greek. Maybe I can share more fully after we have the rest of our classes this week (and after some sleep).

Orientation

2009-08-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

So much for the light schedule I described in my last blog post! The official length of orientation at the School of Theology, University of the South is two weeks, but it feels much longer. We spent all of last week learning about each professor, all our classes, campus histories, traditions and where to find a good cup of coffee (Stirling's Cafe, if they are open...)

This week we've spent every morning learning how to write. I mean this literally, no pun intended, because we've reviewed all the grammatical and stylistic errors and techniques that are common to high school term papers, collegiate papers and graduate level work. Jim Dunkly, our esteemed instructor, has reviewed topics, such as split infinitives, that I've not heard discussed since tenth grade, which for me was twenty-three years ago. I think that we have all done ok and I know that we have all benefited from the exercise.

We spend two hours each afternoon with a speech coach, Marcia Mary Cook, from the drama department and Dr. Bryan, who recently became semi-retired from the School of Theology. We are trying to learn proper liturgical speaking and this is not as easy as I thought it would be. During class time we each get a chance to stand at the lectern and take a shot at some scriptural reading. Some of my classmates are very good speakers and sound terrific. There are others, including me, who sound different every time we speak, moving too fast, pausing in the wrong places, neglecting emphasis where indicated (or not) in the text, etc. We all sound better now than we did at the beginning of the week, but most of us still have some work ahead.

Tonight is our last Friday cookout for the year. These summer barbeques have become a weekly event for our family and we have met most of our new friends this way. We will miss the cookouts! It seems like orientation started just yesterday, but it also seems like it has been months... I have a feeling that each new term will feel this way, but even more so. Every priest I've known has remembered their seminary experience as a significant time of formation and information, growing and learning their way into a new craft, while trying to remain available for the work of the Holy Spirit in themselves and others. Not all of the challenges of this place can be met head-on, because some of them come at you sideways and some of them simply refuse to be pinned down. I pray for all seminarians and the wonderful friends and families they left behind.

peace

Jon

2nd Day of Orientation

2009-08-11T12:29:00.000-07:00

Well, today was our second day of orientation. It is absolutely wonderful to be meeting all the other seminarians from my class (Juniors) and many of the Middler and Senior students and faculty! Our schedule is agreeably light, with half days this week and full days next week, before classes begin in earnest on August 26th. They kept the afternoons open this week for the seminarians who have recently arrived, so that they can pay their utility deposits, get the cable and internet turned on, unpack, etc... This is indicative of the way they operate around here and we all appreciate it very much. One of the points of residential seminary education is the modeling of community and hospitality. Those of us from St. Andrew's, Jacksonville, have been the happy benefactors of this training in the form of Father Reed and Father Mark, both Sewanee grads. San Jose Episcopal, a very welcoming parish where I did my internship, is also led by a proud Sewanee grad, Father Steph Britt.

I also want to reflect on the work of the Holy Spirit in terms of Her recruitment policy for seminarians. I have been so impressed by the bright, energetic and diverse group of people with whom I'll be spending the next few years. They come mostly from southern dioceses, though many of them are not southern by birth and they represent most age groups and walks of life. The notable exception is that the ethnic diversity is pretty thin. I think this is more a reflection of Mainline Protestant struggles with reaching out to all of God’s children. It is certainly not a reflection of admission policy. However, it is cool that in addition to Greek and Hebrew, the seminary is also offering classes in Pastoral Spanish. They say turning the Church in new directions is like maneuvering a battleship, it takes a while, but eventually we'll get there.

Well, I gotta go pick up the kids from their first full day of school, more on that later...

Peace,

Jon

Friends

2009-08-07T20:17:00.000-07:00

My first sponsoring priest, Father Reed, is in Sewanee this week! He is up here working on his PhD in theology. He has a lot of friends on staff at Sewanee, especially our very talented librarian, who have offered to help him plan his research and prepare for his thesis. It has been a real kick to see Reed; we've been out to lunch and had dinner together the past two nights.

Reed has been a part of my discernment process since late 2005, so it's especially gratifying to see him the week before seminary orientation. It has been a long road and Reed has been a steady guide and source of inspiration. Probably my two favorite things about him are his dry wit and his amazing humility. In spite of being a truly brilliant intellect, Reed has always found a way to connect to every person he meets. I can see Christ in him because he takes no pride in his many gifts; he sees them as God given and feels responsible for using them wisely and productively for the greater good. (From today's readings, John 7:18 – “the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.") Regarding the wit, well I guess you'd just have to know Reed to appreciate that...

Tomorrow night we're hosting our third dinner at our house. This is a new thing for us, as we rarely had people over in Jacksonville - we usually went out. In Sewanee you have neither the financial means to eat out much (we ate at Chili's in Murfreesboro today & it was gourmet! - btw, this is our closest Chili's, it's only 65 miles away!) and you have the added benefit of there being no where to go. Anyway, all seminarians and their spouses have sponsors from the classes ahead of you, so we've had both our sponsors’ families over. Tomorrow night, though, is only juniors, which means it's all first year seminarians. I'm excited about it, it seems so grown up to have my fellow graduate students invited over for a meal. Woo hoo... of course we're having Cuban sandwiches with rice and black beans, so it won't exactly feel like a night in Paris, but it will be fun.

Old friends and new friends, life is good!

Life Together

2009-08-03T21:24:00.000-07:00

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (PS 133:1)

Well, I have had my booklist for two days and I finally bought my first book for seminary... Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. DB was a theologian of the early twentieth century whose amazing faith allowed him to write beautiful, loving works dedicated to the realization of the Kingdom of God on earth, even as he was persecuted and eventually martyred by the Nazis in 1945. The focus of Life Together is the privilege we share as Christians of living life together, in the company of other Christians. It's a really simple idea and a really simple truth, but he points out how often we overlook the fact that our communal faith is a gift, we should not take it for granted.

In the last nine months I have lived in three worshipping communities. First, there is my home parish of St. Andrew's, then I had six months at San Jose Episcopal during my internship, and now I am becoming a part of the Sewanee community (which is very unique, since we worship together as students during the week and then on Sundays we go off to other local parishes).

Having been exposed to these different communities, I have this to say: "don't take your church for granted!" I agree with Bonhoeffer, there are so many reasons to be grateful and gladdened by the experience of faith sharing with others. And, also in agreement with Bonhoeffer, I say this "it's all about Jesus". From one church to the next and one Christian to the next, the tie that binds is the Lord himself. We need each other because of Christ, we come to each other only through Christ and in Christ we are united for eternity.

One of the last people to see DB alive was a fellow prisoner, an Englishman, who later wrote:

"Bonhoeffer always seemed to me to spread an atmosphere of happiness and joy over the least incident and profound gratitude for the mere fact that he was alive... He was one of the very few persons I have ever met for whom God was real and always near..."

God is always near, may we have eyes to see him, especially in one another!

Bridal Veil Falls

2009-08-01T17:17:00.000-07:00

My 9yr old Brennan just sent this note to his grandparents back in Jacksonville:

Dear Nana and D'Daddy

I just wanted to tell you all about my hike to Bridal Veil Falls with my dad and Aidan:

First we went to Morgan Steep , which is down the road from our house. Aidan led us to it.

Next we went on the hike there to the falls and there were lots of mushrooms on the side of the trail. Aidan enjoyed kicking them down, but dad only let him destroy two. The storm from last night had knocked down many trees over the trail and we had to jump over all of them.

After that, we reached the falls and they were enormous. The falls started about 40 feet over our heads and poured into a rocky pit that was big enough to fit your house. We were very amazed and a little scared by the falls, so we kept our distance from the edge. Aidan threw lots of rocks and sticks into the falls and so did my dad.

Finally, it started raining and we had to end our experience on the hike . Dad said that he would bike down it and I said that if came back without any briuses an cuts that I would pay him $10.

Sincerely ,

Brennan

Aidan yells at deer

2009-07-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

It's not that I miss suburbia, but... maybe I do. Since school hasn't started yet and my kids are always with me, which is bliss, painful, loud, annoying bliss, we get to spend a lot of time wondering things like "why did the squirrels eat all the peaches from the tree?" and "what will we do next year to keep the furry tailed rats from attacking again?" Also, are we seeing different deer, or is the same six deer over and over? Can one doe take care of three fawns & which one of the bucks is the dad? Finally, my dog Abby, who barks at deer (a lot), is actually scared of them, so we're thinking steel cage match, toe to paw, five rounds - winner take all!

Seriously, I can't wait for school to start. The Chapel of the Apostles (COTA) has undergone some restoration this summer, so we've not been able to pray there since our arrival. It is the chapel for the seminary, as opposed to All Saints, which is the cathedral-like chapel for the undergrads. COTA is modern, yet really beautiful. The seminary building itself, Hamilton Hall, not so much. Marti was the first to point out it's circa 1965 charm. I actually appreciate that the seminary is physically set apart (about 1/4 mile of woods separate the seminary buildings from the rest of campus), but I wish the architecture had been more in keeping with the main campus buildings, which are gorgeous and very reminiscent of Oxford, which they are modelled on. Oh well, pretty or not, Hamilton Hall is definitely holy ground and you can sense the prayers and study of scripture that have been the hallmark of the place.

Gotta go babysit Joshua, so more later...

peace

Jon

House husband

2009-07-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

I have said it before, I don't know how full time homemakers can handle the stress of being with their own children day in and day out...? Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but for some reason all the neighborhood kids seem to have left for vacation simultaneously over the last few days and I have spent an extraordinary amount of time of time with Brennan and Aidan. I wonder how they have made it to the ages of 9 and 7 without killing each other. They are good boys, but they are boys, so there is a constant chatter about who did what to whom and how one got more cookies than the other. Brennan is currently obsessed with carnivorous plants..."feed me!" and Aidan can turn anything into a gun.

Today we had a near death experience at something called the "Natural Bridge" which is a few miles from campus. When we arrived, the kids jumped from the car and began to run towards an unknown destination. We YELLED for them to stop and holding hands we came to the most treacherous natural formation I've seen since my visit to the Grand Canyon when I was a boy. The trail through the woods we were on simply emptied out onto a rock formation that was the arch. The approach was from the side, sort of, so you could see that you were about to cross over the 50 foot long, 6 feet wide arch to the other side. Six feet sounds wide, it's certainly better than 3, but there was no room for errors, you would not get a second chance from any significant slip! And... there were no railings, guide ropes or any attempt at keeping the foolish or the unlucky from plummeting 25-30 feet to a rocky death or at least a nice full body cast and head wound combo. As I led Aidan across we noticed that there were people below us, they had already crossed and climbed down a path on the other side. But instead of coming back up via the path, they were wearing flip flops and trying to scale the rock wall. Maybe this was going to be an exciting visit after all. I left Aidan in relative calm, watching the locals defy death in their flip flops from his safe perch at the bottom of the arch and went for Brennan. Our eldest displayed a more profound and heart felt fear of the arch, so we have determined that Brennan is our smartest child. After about 14 seconds on the other side, having proved himself a man, Brennan had me lead him back to Marti. Then I went to fetch Aidan, bid the flip floppers farewell and went home. We have determined that life is so rich that we'll only need that single visit to the Arch of Doom... maybe next week we'll try some spelunking.

Settling in

2009-07-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

We've been at Sewanee for 10 days now and we're starting to settle into a routine. Our neighborhood is very hilly, so Brennan and Aidan spend a lot of time riding bikes and scooters up and down the long sidewalks (probably reaching speeds of 15-20 mph, really!) We walk just about everywhere on campus, including the library, chapel and bookstore. I go mountain biking for a few hours every other day and we spend other time meeting with our fellow seminarians and helping others to move into their homes, as we were helped when we arrived.

The house is really a blessing, it is a 4 bed, 2 bath unit that was originally built in the 50's or 60's for a then-popular athletic director. It's probably one of the nicest seminary houses (we were assigned a bigger house due to having a bigger family, but many thanks to Father Mark and Father Reed for encouraging me to turn in my paperwork early!) Each morning the same family of white tailed deer can be found eating our front lawn and running through our back yard, which is completely woods. We'll be posting some pictures soon.

Tonight we attended our second weekly bbq, which is done at the cookout area of the seminary housing area known as the "Woodlands". We're about 3/4 mile away from the Woodlands, but it is all hills, so we drive when we take the baby over there. Everyone is excited about the new term starting in a few weeks. We all have our different ideas about what ordained life will be like, but even the middlers and seniors (2nd and 3rd year students) really have no idea. All any of us really know so far is what it feels like to be at seminary, and I don't even know that much yet. The silliest thing so far is how little I've heard about Jesus since I arrived. We talk a lot about church, but it's mostly shoptalk, about home parishes, dioceses and bishops, just like you would find at any other job... I hope this changes when class starts.

I wish words could say how blessed we feel to be here in this wonderful place. Sewanee is one of the most beautiful places that I've ever been. We want all of our friends in Jacksonville to come and visit... we have a guest room waiting for you and we really hope you'll come!

Yours in Christ,

Jon

On the Mountain

2009-07-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

We've been here since Weds, it is wonderful! The weather is amazingly cool and the mountain air is fresh and sweet. The kids are having a blast, we have to tell them to come in the house, never had to do that in Jacksonville! The house is great and I've already met many seminarians... a dozen of them helped us move in at 9pm on Wednesday night. We also attended the weekly bbq last night, which is done every Friday throughout the summer.

Everything is better than we had hoped. The kids are already making friends and there are many families with kids their age. Marti is teaming up with another seminary spouse named Brittany, she's really great and they are going to see the new Harry Potter tomorrow.

I went mountain biking this morning for the first time since we got here. It was so steep and rocky that I had to carry the bike 50% of the time, but it was still a blast. There were two water falls, a few streams and lots of rocky overhangs, plus some deadly cliffs (gotta watch yourself here, a wrong move could go really wrong). Funny thing is that I was never more than 1/2 a mile from my house.

We'll be at St. James, which is off campus, for church tomorrow and the kids are going to go to VBS next week there. The Chapel of the Apostostle is shut down over the summer, but the Daily Offices should start up again in early August. Orientation starts on August 10th and classes start on the 24th, so maybe by then I will actually feel like a student...?

The move was tough, but we're so grateful to all the wonderful people who have helped all along the way... God bless you all!

peace,

Jon

More like Him

2009-07-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

I want to say that going away to seminary is all an incredible blessing, full of excitement and adventure... but we are so sad. My kids cry every night talking about the friends and family they'll miss, the church and school they'll miss and the way that once everything changes it can never again be the way it is today. And the way it is today is awesome, fantastic, better than we ever expected, hoped or dreamed it could be. We have so many wonderful friends, brothers and sisters, really, who've been with us through tough times and good times and all the in-betweens. We've been with each other as our children have been born and family has passed... at Easters and Christmases and weddings and funerals. We have worshipped, laughed, loved, griped, cried and complained together. We've weathered storms and watched others get blown out to sea. We've seen failings and flailings and prodigal returns and casseroles and fried chicken. St. Andrew's has been our heavenly sanctuary for almost a decade and next Wednesday that changes.

I've been telling my kids that it is ok to cry, it's part of loving. Don't be afraid to feel your feelings, God wants you to, it really is ok. Remember, when confronted with profound loss, Jesus wept. Forgetting all His glory, holiness, and perfection, I often find myself lost in Christ as man, a man who suffered. The God that suffered is the one that makes sense to me.

VBS and the changing of the guard

2009-07-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

It's our last week at St. Andrew's and Marti is co-leading vacation bible school with her replacement, Sarah.

The theme this week is Rome, with a focus on the early church and "underground" worship. They have Father Mark acting as St. Paul, in chains with a Roman guard! The music is great, decor is great and the activities are fun and interesting... as far as I can tell the kids are having almost as much fun as the adults.

I'm really going to miss SAE. Last night at the end of VBS we sat around in the parish hall and chatted for about an hour. Joy, Sarah and Karen (all relatively new members at SAE) were right at home with Father Mark, our priest of 11 months and me and Marti. You could really see a changing of the guard type of thing going on. The best news is that SAE is in very capable, loving hands. The bad news is that we'll be somewhere else as this blessed SAE future unfolds :(

But, the God of life, the living God of breath and light, never tires of change. It's His will we're to follow and not our own. Maybe in all this change it's easier to see the things that are permanent, like His love for us and our love for each other...

Short Timer, Part 2

2009-06-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

There is so much to do in the next two weeks that I'm nearly paralyzed trying to sort it out and PRIORITIZE! The house is almost ready to be rented out, except that in this case almost means we have two more rooms to paint, a back deck to finish, a sprinkler system zone to complete and there are boxes and boxes everywhere... like I said, almost.

At least the Sewanee side of the deal is set:

accepted into seminary - check
house rented - check
financial aid recieved - check (thank you God!)
move in party planned - check

Now if we can only get the extra car sold, finish packing, finish swim team, finish VBS, finish my job, finish the house, then we're set!

These are good problems to have, I hope I don't sound too much like a baby. We're really thrilled, it is a real adventure, nothing boring here!

breathe

Being overwhelmed - a constant feature of theological education!

2009-06-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

I received a very nice form letter from the Dean of the School of Theology at Sewanee the other day. In the letter he welcomed my family to Sewanee and tried to introduce us to the idea of being constantly overwhelmed... anyone who has visited our house lately would know that we are no strangers to this state of mind! We started packing two weeks ago and everything is in a state of flux. We have packaged almost all of our fragile items such as picture frames, figurines, etc in bubble wrap and cardboard. We've peeled wallpaper jungle scenes from the kids' bedroom walls, we have tried to empty out the shed and the garage (although they are more full than ever) and so on... all while keeping everyone fed and clothed, including our infant son Joshua.

All in all it has been fun and exciting and yet we're nowhere near ready to go, but go we will. The rental van is rented, so there's no backing out now.

On the plus side, it is nice to see that we're all getting along with each other pretty well. We're spending lots of time with old friends, silently acknowledging how much we're going to miss each other (a lot, a whole lot!) and wishing we could take everyone with us to Sewanee.

God has definitely been the central figure in this whole process and I pray that we'll keep saying "yes" each time he says "go now".

Jon

Environmental Stewardship

2009-06-11T06:02:00.000-07:00

Leave it to me to make a big deal out of something and then take off for the mountains! Over the last few weeks I've been sharing about environmental stewardship at St. Andrew's. The first session was on what we could do as individuals and the next section was about how churches could participate in improving the physical world we live in.

It is certainly true that most people alive today would not even recognize the world that our Christian ancestors inhabited. I would give just about anything to see the vast forests that once covered our land with 250 foot tall pines and oak trees that were 30 feet in diameter. I would love to visit an unspoiled Florida, with no tract housing, no air conditioners humming through the night and fireflies lighting up every bit of swampy ground.

I suppose this is not to be... so what can we do? A lot, really! It begins with reducing our environmental footprint, by being efficient, recycling and re-using. Next we can take active steps to become more sustainable in the products we purchase and the way that we grow our food and use the land. If we can focus on the environment as a blessing, as a true gift from God and seek to better understand his will for us, then we might have a chance. I pray for the renewed health and well being of all my neighbors, especially the ones on the wing, in the water and running about on four legs.

Short timer

2009-06-02T10:26:00.000-07:00

We're six weeks from moving and it is getting really exciting! We got our housing assignment last week and what a blessing, it's bigger than the house we live in now (how will we ever survive with less than 2,000 sq ft again?) Marti is thrilled and so am I. Also the house has a guest bedroom which will have a double bed, for whenever anyone from Jacksonville wants to visit. We have reserved the moving van and are starting to line up volunteers for the move. We also have help at the Sewanee end, which is totally great.

I got turned down for one of the scholarships I applied for, but it was a long shot. The rest we'll know when I hear from Sewanee's financial aid office around the 15th of June. The St. Andrew's vestry and finance committees both approved a very generous "aid" package for our family. Thanks to all and to Father Mark for their generosity! This last piece of the puzzle would be enough to stress anyone out, but I feel completely at peace...

The kids are getting excited too. It is starting to sink in that they won't be able to see all of their lifelong friends whenever they want. It adds a certain sense of appreciation that only moving away can provide. My dad was in the Navy, so I am well acquainted with relocating, but Marti and the kids are not.

St. Andrew's is planning a big party for us in July and I am really looking forward to it. I hope that we can find ways to express our love for our wonderful home parish and to thank them for bringing us into the family of God.

yours in Christ,

Jon

The Waiting

2009-05-08T06:01:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been two weeks since San Jose sent me off with a lovely going away party. We had a nice reception after the 1030 service that I really enjoyed. It was a bittersweet moment because although Iwas happy to be done with another phase of my development, I was sad to be leaving this wonderful group of people behind.

A week ago today (on May 1) I met with Father Britt from San Jose for our final "chat" regarding my time at his parish. He seemed to pleased overall with my committment to the cause. We sat and talked for about an hour about how he'd entered the ministry in his mid twenties and the changes that he has seen as a life-long Episcopalian. He was especially helpful in encouraging me to reach out to others at seminary. He is not the first one to encourage this, nor was he the first to note that seminarians are real people who bring their real problems with them into the world of education and ministry. I hope that my family can contribute to the peace and spiritual health of the place while we are there...

As sad as leaving San Jose was (and it really was) it was also really great to be back at St. Andrew's for the first time in months. I wish that everyone could have the experience of leaving and then returning to their home parish. You learn to appreciate everything so much more, and you become much more forgiving of the little glitches that used to bother you. It was also great to be able to sit in the same pew as my wife and our 3 month old son Joshua. Every clergy person I know has indicated that they miss sitting with their spouses and family during worship.

I started out with the title "The Waiting" on this post because we are still waiting for an answer from Sewanee's housing and financial aid departments. Right now all we know is that we're leaving on July 15th. We don't know where we're going to live or how much seminary will cost us. I was getting pretty squirrelly about it, but now, after a lot of prayer, I have relaxed again. I know how blessed we are to even have this opportunity and I know that God will care for us throughout, so the rest is just details and they will work out fine. The best thing about waiting is that you've always got something to look forward to!

God bless

Jon

Final Sunday at San Jose

2009-04-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

My last Sunday at San Jose Episcopal will be on April 26th. The past five months have really flown by!

Yesterday afternoon I was out for a walk with my three sons. Brennan and Aidan are 9 and 7, respectively, so they rode their scooters and then went hunting for tadpoles and lizards in and around a retention pond by our house. I had three month old Joshua in the jogging stroller (not that I will ever jog with it...) and I mused about the parallels between Joshua's first three months on earth and my five months at San Jose.

Each of us started our little journey in a position of extreme comfort and peace. Joshua began his journey in the womb; there is no warmer, safer, more completely peaceful place than that. I started my recent journey at St. Andrew's; which has been my parish home for eight years. In that time, SAE has become my safe place. St. Andrew's taught me to be a man and follow Christ. It was there that I learned how to be a mature adult, to tithe, to pray, to worship, to raise healthy children and to be a real friend.

Then... trauma. For Joshua, it was birth on January 15th. A tough way to come into the world, but at least you get in! For me it was starting my internship at San Jose on the first Sunday of Advent, 2008. For each of us the change was a shock:

"who are all these strange people?"
"why am I here?"
"when do I get to return to the comfort of my safe place?"

But for each of us the transition turned out to be no so bad after all. Joshua quickly found himself in the loving arms of his wonderful mother and family. He was safe, warm, and fed. I quickly found myself surrounded by caring and thoughtful Christians. I was safe, warm and fed.

After the initial shock wore off, both of us started to enjoy our time in our new surrounding immensely. Joshua came home from the hospital after a few days and then got to meet grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and the dog. Eventually he visited St. Andrew's and was introduced to his larger family. After the first few weeks at San Jose I started to really enjoy every minute of it. I had been afraid that there would be no other place on earth like St. Andrew's. This was true and yet it was not... San Jose and St. Andrew's are loving, thriving, giving Christian communities; each with it's own voice, flavor, and palette of colors and attitudes towards life and the world. The important stuff is the same: devoted to God, followers of Christ, prayerful and giving, love for one another, care for those who hurt, openmindedness, and fondness for the Episcopal way. Some important things are quite different, mostly it is the people themselves and their stories of life with Christ and each other. Other things that are unique, and joyously so, are the music, worship style, architecture, and traditions. This is fantastic because it gives so much spice and variety to each community. After a few weeks at SJE I was ready to savor each moment I spent there.

During our walk Joshua fell quickly asleep. The warm sun was shining down on us from a bright sky full of fluffy clouds. The light from the sun had that filtered, yellow glow that you only get on a spring afternoon. The baby looked so peaceful and content lying there in the stroller, dozing quietly in the warm sun. He knew he was safe and loved; that there was nothing to worry about. I know how he feels.

Jon

Holy Week afterglow

2009-04-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

Alleluia, Christ is risen!

Wow, what an exhausting, yet wonderful Holy Week! It seems like it has been months since Palm Sunday, not eight days. I served at both the 8am and 1030am services at San Jose on Palm Sunday, doing the sermon for the 8am. The readings on Palm Sunday are designed for people who won't be attending all of the Holy Week services, so they include the Passion, etc. It's like having a mini Good Friday service in the middle of your Palm Sunday & makes for a difficult sermon. Both Father Mark at St. Andrew's and Father Steph at San Jose had trouble with it too, so I didn't feel too bad that my novice attempt was a bit confused.

We did the Tenebrae for San Jose on Sunday at 4pm. It was a pretty service, with an unusual (to me) choral style. Not that the choral style was unusual, it was just not the chant style that I expected for Tenebrae. Anyway, it was nice.

On Wednesday night Marti and the kids did a Seder dinner with 75 people at St. Andrew's. It was great, as all her events are. I came early and ate dinner, I love middle eastern food, but had to leave for the Taize service at San Jose. That was a great service. Father Britt has a lovely singing voice and it was very uplifting, while still mindful of the solemn tone of Jesus' last week before the Crucifixion. The music was incredible and the soft lighting of the candles really set the perfect mood in the San Jose sanctuary.

Thursday night was madness. I participated in Father Mark's last supper drama at St. Andrew's, playing the role of James the Younger. The drama was great and very well-received. After that we had the foot washing. I started crying when I watched Don Sitterson, Earl Williams, and Pat Shouvlin washing each other's feet. These gentlemen are in their late seventies and mid eighties and have been friends for close to five decades. They have always been an inspiration to me. After the foot washing we stripped the altar and turned down the lights. Following the end of the service we took a short break and then at 10pm we started the Maundy Thursday vigil. This silent vigil reminds us of Jesus' time in the Garden of Gethsemane when the discipiles repeatedly fell asleep while they were supposed to be keeping watch for him. I had the 1pm and 3pm shifts. In addition to managing the watch and participating, my kids usually spend the night in the parish hall. This year we were joined by Robert Slama and his son, 5 year old Adam. The watch went well and was very rewarding in terms of meditation and prayer. At 6am, Robert, Adam, me and my kids, David and Carol Childers and Gary Walker all went to Cracker Barrell for breakfast (thanks Dave & Carol!).

Good Friday had a noon and 7pm service. I was so tired by Friday that I had a hard time staying awake during the noon service. Marti was beat too, so I asked Father Britt if I could skip the 7pm service.

St. Andrew's had two Good Friday and two Holy Saturday services. (Father Mark is TIRED!) The kids stayed with my in-laws and Marti and I went alone with the baby to the Saturday night Vigil at 7pm. It was a beautiful service that included the baptism of Gary and Jan Walker's granddaughter.

Finally, Easter day arrived bright and beautiful on Sunday. The music and scripture for the 7am Vigil at San Jose were perfect. At 9am I joined the choir for a delicious breakfast and then at 1030 we celebrated again with 300 of our closest friends. Both services were great and the festive Easter spirit filled the parish.

I know that clergy and staff the world over are tired from their Holy Week work, but I pray that all are renewed and enriched in their walk with Christ.

God bless,

Jon

Sewanee Visit in March

2009-04-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture from our recent visit. That's Brennan holding Joshua in the baby carrier and Aidan is in front of the sign getting funky.

Almost done with internship.

2009-04-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since our visit to Sewanee in early March.

Regarding my seminary education, I was accepted as an MDiv student at Sewanee! This was a fantastic relief and lead me to go ahead and announce that I was leaving to all the people that I work with. This has been very liberating and fun. It's nice to not have to keep the "secret" anymore, plus I get to talk about my faith without worrying so much about "crossing the line".

Now, my internship at San Jose is drawing to a close. I am a little sad about this, I have really enjoyed getting to know the wonderful people there. My relationship with Father Britt and Deacon Sorey has also been great, they are kind hearted teachers who enjoy sharing their faith and their experiences. I will especially miss serving on the altar there, which has been a real privilege.

Sewanee Visit

2009-03-03T13:56:00.000-08:00

Well, we're finally making the big trek back to Sewanee Tennessee for my "official visit"! We leave tomorrow morning and we'll spend a few days in Sewanee. The trip up and back from Jacksonville is 525 miles, but we're taking it slow because our new son Joshua is only 6 weeks old. It seems likely that we'll be stopping every two hours or so. I pray that we have a safe journey.

I'm pretty excited to be going back to Sewanee. It was almost a year ago that we first visited and so much has happened since then (we had a baby!). I am certain that no one is ever really ready for seminary, but I feel that I am much more ready now than I was at any earlier time. The internship at San Jose has really shaped the way I relate to the Church and my understanding of ordained ministry. Overall I have to say that I've been having a well-earned, very good time. It is work, but the rewards are amazing, and my walk with Christ has never felt closer.

More when we return...

Postulancy

2009-02-23T12:14:00.001-08:00

I was granted postulancy by our bishop about a month ago. This was the final endorsement necessary for my application to seminary. My family and I will be going to Sewanee in a few weeks for my "official visit". This will be the time when I interview at the school and that will hopefully lead to being enrolled this coming August.

We've almost been too busy for me to get excited about it all... Our third son, Joshua Andrew, was born on January 15th and between him and work and interning at San Jose Episcopal and raising our 7 and 9 year olds, we've been stretched!

Our diocesan convention was also last month. It was a good convention, which means that it was mostly boring and uneventful. That's how a convention should be. An exciting convention in today's Episcopal church could easily mean controversy and dissention, so I will take boring any day. The best part of the event was the several short films that were shown highlighting parishes around the diocese, these were particularly gratifying because they showcased the incredible ministry and worship activities of some of our smaller churches. They really showed how effective a parish can be in spite of small congregations. Another wonderful part of the convention was the granting of full parish status to Ressurection Episcopal church on Fort Caroline Road in Jacksonville. This parish had been struggling as a mission for years and to see them return to parish status was heavenly.

Finally, I finished a three part series adult education class at San Jose yesterday morning. Part of my intership requirement is teaching. As someone who lives somewhere between the lay and ordained worlds of the church, I chose to present three sessions on the priesthood. The first two Sundays were lecture based classes on the history and variety of the priesthood in all cultures and also more specifically in the Judeo-Christian tradition. The final session was the story of my discernment. I guess I do like talking about myself more than I probably should, but I hope that the class shed some light on the trials and doubts that all Christians face as they try to listen to God's voice calling them.

God's peace be with you,

Jon

San Jose Episcopal - Mentoring at last!

2008-12-03T11:27:00.000-08:00

Well, I've now begun my mentoring experience at San Jose Episcopal. Their rector (and my mentor) is Father Steph Britt. He's in his late thirties and loves ministry. He's been at SJE a few years and the folks there are very fond of him. The parish is very outgoing, warm and growing. They've added forty new families to an already healthy church since Father Britt arrived. I've also met their Deacon, Chris Sorey, Sue and Susan from the office, Molly their youth programs director, and Bill, their talented music director. The parish has a day school and the school and church combined share a lovely property on one of the more prosperous boulevards in Jacksonville.

Going to a different church is different! I have grown so accustomed to worship and community with the good people of St. Andrew's. I cannot help but think that the diocese started the mentoring program so that potential seminarians would get a taste of leaving their home churches before they actually committed to selling their homes and moving away for school. The good thing is that the people of San Jose are so welcoming that I know I will feel at home before too long. I am inspired by the example of St. Paul as he travelled; getting to know and care for many church families. Last Sunday was my first at SJE and I attended both services. In the future I will get to experience the responsibilities of serving at the altar, but for this first Sunday I was simply a visitor. I think this was the right way to start. Father Britt introduced me in each service and many, many people introduced themselves, before and after the services and during their delicious breakfast. I even received a visitor welcome packet with trail mix that I just finished eating this morning.

Tonight I'll be back at St. Andrew's trying to help set next year's budget. I'm sure that pledges will have been impacted by the economy, but I know God's blessings will continue to shower on both of my churches.

Jon

Mentoring starts soon!

2008-10-07T07:59:00.000-07:00

The next and last part of discernment is ahead of me and starts in a few weeks. I will be working with the priest at a local parish in kind of an on the job training mentorship. This should be fun. I will vest (dress up in fancy altar clothes) for every service, go to vestry and liturgy commission meetings, help plan worship services, be present during the preparations for baptisms, weddings, and funerals, learn about picking music, etc. I've only ever done any of these activities at my home parish, among friends , so this experience will be a lot like when a priest moves to a new parish as an ordained leader, but without the pressure (yeah right!).

My informal Christian training is also starting to take on a new flavor. By this I mean the daily training that Jesus is providing me through prayer and reading scripture. I am happily drifting a bit away from doing things out of a sense of duty and towards doing them for the joy of the activitiy. Especially scripture has become a lot more attractive in it's own right. I guess there are millions of people who are drawn to the Bible like magnets, but it isn't always like that for me. Recently I was reading in Isaiah about the way that Israel turned away from and betrayed God. You can see right there in the passages all the fraility of mankind and our tendencies toward self absorption leading into sin and then subsequent self loathing. If we could be happy thinking about ourselves all the time then I suppose I'd be a lot happier than I am!

Weekly Letter 062908

2008-06-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

This Sunday’s Old Testament lesson begins with the words “God tested Abraham”. And what a severe test it was! I am wholly repulsed whenever I read this section of Genesis to hear of a God that would require his servant to sacrifice the life of his own child. But this scripture is so tough to swallow that I end up reading it more than once, and I’m always drawn to Abraham’s assurance when Isaac asks about the sacrificial animal - “God himself will provide the lamb”.
Did Abraham know what would happen? Did he at least suspect? Do I have that kind of obedience to God? Will I do as I am told by God… no matter what?
The journey from the dusty desert rock that Isaac was bound upon to the site of the cross at Golgotha is less than 40 miles, but over 1,600 years separated the two events. In Abraham’s anguish at the loss of his child, perhaps we can understand our God a little better. In Abraham’s obedience to God we can certainly understand our savior much better. As Christians let us never forget that when the time really came for a son to be sacrificed, it was the God’s own Son and the sacrifice was for us.

The Discernment Process

2008-05-19T09:15:00.001-07:00

The process of becoming a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Florida is pretty long and arduous, but if the call is true, then you feel compelled to dig in and press forward, no matter what. A typical "discernment" process takes about 2-3 years from the time that you express your interest to the diocese until you are actually ready (if you make it!) to set off for seminary. In my case I began my discernment in the fall of 2005 and, God willing, I will be in seminary in fall 2009.

The discernment process is outlined in a 50 page booklet on our diocesan website, but the quick details are as follows:

6-12 months of monthly meetings with your parish priest to ask questions and discuss the call. This time includes lots of reading (scripture, of course and there is a diocesan provided book list – your priest will also suggest readings).
6-12 months of meetings with a congregational discernment committee – these are folks from your own parish that meet with you on a regular schedule. Together you explore the call using guidelines and topics provided by the diocese.
6 months of mentorship with a local parish other than your home parish. This is like on the job training, with you shadowing a priest from Advent through Easter. You are encouraged to participate in all manner of clerical activity, such as preparation for Sunday services, baptisms, funerals, vestry meetings, parish finances, social activities of the parish, etc.

The time it takes depends on the person and the circumstances. I was occasionally discouraged that it is such a long process, but mostly I have been very grateful.

First, I have had a lot of growing to do and I needed time to do the growing. Wanting to become a priest forces you to re-examine all of your relationships, with your wife, your kids, your church family and most importantly, with God. I needed to know that I wasn’t going to risk my family and my current career on a feeling or a whim, this had to be concrete.

Second, a few years of discernment gives your wife and kids time to get used to the idea of selling your home and moving to seminary – this is not an easy thing to ask your family to do. My kids are young, so their sense of adventure trumps their fear of leaving. Still, I’m sure it will be tough to leave their friends, our church, and their grandparents. My wife is an incredible Christian educator and youth minister at our home parish and she has struggled most with moving away. She has rightfully insisted that our three years at seminary be meaningful and rewarding for both of us (right now it looks like she will pursue her masters in theology while I pursue my masters in divinity). Finding the best outcome among many possibilities has made us much closer.

Finally, the discernment period provides many practical benefits. By summer of 2009 we will be completely debt free (very important for seminarians!). My home parish has been very involved in the process and I know that we will be able to rely on our church family while at seminary. We have had time to prepare our home for sale. I also need time to study for the GRE and have very consciously become a student again – reading and writing all the time in preparation for formal studies.

Net Article, May 25 2008

2008-05-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

Because you gave Jesus Christ, your only Son, to be born for us; who, by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit, was made perfect Man of the flesh of the Virgin Mary his mother; so that we might be delivered from the bondage of sin, and receive power to become your children. BCP p. 378

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
One of Anglicanism’s greatest strengths is our incarnational theology. Simply stated we believe that God became man in the person of Jesus Christ – He was and is, simultaneously, God and man. The Nicene Creed, composed in the fourth century during two councils of the early Catholic (universal) church, is probably our finest statement of this way of believing in God. The early church had to reconcile competing interpretations about the nature of Jesus and his relationship to God the Father. The result of this reconciliation of thought, faith and experience is a creedal statement that continues to strengthen and bind together our Church 1600 years later.
The truth of incarnational theology is its recognition that mankind, on its own, will never be able to solve the dilemma of human evil and moral weakness. In coming to earth Jesus affirmed that only through our relationship with our Father in Heaven would we be able to be the men and women God intends us to be. By the example of His life, death and resurrection, Jesus showed us what a sin-less life looked like. By His devotion to prayer and community He showed us how righteous people should live and treat each other. And by His death on the cross He showed us true obedience to God’s will and also how far God would go to save us.
Jon

Net Article May 4, 2008

2008-05-08T07:44:00.000-07:00

I am the Senior Warden at St. Andrew's and one of the many perks of that role is that I get to write a weekly article for our Sunday service bulletin. I will probably publish all of these on the blogsite.

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." John 20: 19-23

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today’s gospel message is so incredible; look at the mighty power of this short section of scripture! On the first day of the week the disciples were hiding – hiding for fear of the Jews! Next Jesus passes bodily through a locked door… Then, in characteristic good humor, he bids the disciples ‘Peace’. After that they see his wounds and they know the truth of the resurrection of the body. Since the disciples are stunned into silence, Jesus greets them again: ‘Peace be with you’. They come to their senses. Immediately he tells them – ‘As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ --Jesus has the same expectations of his disciples (us!) that God had of him… this means we will have to be witnesses to God’s glory. We have to sacrifice and be humbled. We are expected to die to sin as Christ himself died. We are children of God...
But how can God expect these things and more from mere humans? The key is the final sentence – he breathed on them and said ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’ Through grace we are all heirs to His Kingdom. We are the fruit of the living vine, with roots which reach beyond time, to that breath of life. When Christ breathed on his disciples, he breathed on us – ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’.