FINAL WEEK

As a result of all the planning our sabbatical team did over the past year and a half, I have had a great sabbatical. The labor of the sabbatical team was largely unnoticed except when information needed to be shared with the council and congregation long ago. I am grateful for the fine people who have made this time possible for me and for the congregation: Laura Schranz, the Team Leader, Pauline Castiglione, the Team secretary, Stephen Gerlach, John Kelly, Roger Meyer, Carol Mauro, and Steve Swift. 

I am also very grateful for the work done by members of our church staff to keep things moving along during the sabbatical time, especially Joyce Stahl, Barbara Nugent, Laura Laza, and Linda Favale. Our Council members supported the effort and deserve thanks for the encouragement and prayers they gave over these many months as well, and I am especially thankful for Pastor Jeff Kolbo from Trinity, Rocky Point who served as "Coverage Pastor."

Add to that all the people who helped make the sabbatical possible in England, literally over 100 people in London, Saint Albans, Peterborough, Northampton, Norwich, Lincoln, Coventry, Gloucester, Hereford, Chester, Liverpool, and my friends Barrie and Loisann Lawless who opened their hearts and their homes to me, prepared meals for me, drove me around, took me out to lunch or dinner, and brought me to meet people whom they gathered together just so I could meet them.

Add to those the church leaders and members who took time to visit and share with me in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, especially Pastor John Groppe, churches in Council Bluffs and Iowa City, Iowa, especially Bishop Alan Scarfe and people in Sacramento, Placerville, Yuba City, and Auburn, California especially Rev. Kay Rohde who welcomed me on my second journey of discovery.

Then add to that the folks I met on my third journey, who live in Minnesota, especially Sandi and Bruce Holmberg, the members of the 21 Total/Shared Ministry teams who met in Little Falls, Minnesota, and Frank and Lyn Van De Steeg and the Shared Ministry team at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Hastings, Minnesota.

I am grateful for having had the chance to meet eight bishops and many members of their staffs, and for the support given all along from our Metro New York Synod bishop, Bob Rimbo.

Of course the sabbatical preachers deserve thanks for coming out to Hope: Pastors Jeff Kolbo, Gary Mills, Jonathan Linman, Bob Wollenburg, Kathleen Koran, George Summers, Wayne Leazer, James Smith, Ben McKelahan and Deacon Rich Wolff who also led Thursday night worship services as well as on Memorial Day Weekend. I heard so many positive comments about them that I'm a little worried about coming back to preach next Sunday.

I appreciate the support my wife Linda gave throughout the three months. She always takes the lions' share of the work around our home anyway, but she was especially supportive of my desire to learn and grow on this sabbatical, and I would not have been able to do this without her encouragement.

I will have a lot to share in coming weeks. I am glad that the sabbatical ends in July because I will need some time to re-integrate into parish life and prepare reports etc. about what I experienced. I thank God for this time apart from my regular duties as pastor of Hope, and I'm looking forward eagerly to the years ahead as we move together into the future God is preparing for us in his service.

SUMMING UP AND RE-ENTERING

I have reached the point in my sabbatical journey where I am more and more mindful of the fact that even sabbaticals come to an end, and I am wondering about what the future has in store for me and for all of us together. But as I think back over my journeys, I am grateful for those experiences I had.

I traveled a lot over the past ten weeks. I haven't totaled the actual miles, but I can quickly estimate that my journeys have moved me around at least 12,000 miles, not counting the riding around that I have done in various places. I've met a lot of people from a lot of churches, but I have no estimate available on that yet.

I can add up the places where I have stayed: 5 hotels (7 nights) and a prayer center (3 nights) in England, 3 hotels (7 nights), a dormitory (3 nights) and a conference center (1 night) in the U.S., 9 homes (19 nights) in England and 3 homes (9 nights) in the U.S. I rented 3 cars. I used 3 airlines (11 take offs and landings), 5 railroads (4 in England and LIRR 3 times), and was driven around by 31 different drivers (18 in England and 13 in the U.S.). I also had two subway (tube) rides, one bus ride, one boat ride, and one funicular ride.

I attended 14 worship services in England and 16 in the U.S. and one soccer match. I met and visited with 7 bishops, visited 11 cathedrals, and took over 600 photos of various sorts.

I was fortunate to be taken out for many meals-- 15 in England and 9 in the U.S. On at least five occasions I was hosted at meals of people gathered to meet me. I ate alone at least 17 meals in restaurants and most of the rest were provided by people hosting me. I took others out for at least 4 meals, and I ordered out for two pizzas in hotels.

Looking back is always easier than looking ahead. What will the future hold for us? Some folks have said they are eager to hear about "new ideas" I picked up along the way, and that is something worth sharing. I think what I learned about the most, however, is not about "programs" we can copy or use locally, but about several different ways of being church with one another. Shared Ministry is a powerful force that has taken hold in many places, drawing out from people many gifts and resources that would otherwise have gone unused. It is a way people have learned how to make a deeper and longer lasting commitment to serve God fruitfully in their churches, developing their gifts and offering them to benefit their churches and the communities beyond those places.

I need to find a way to make what I've learned accessible and inviting to everyone who did not make the journey alongside me. Shared Ministry may be just an option for churches that can pay all their bills, but it is way of being faithful to God's call that every follower of Jesus needs to learn.

There's so much I can share. I hope you are willing to listen to, learn about, reflect upon, and then join in the work God's Spirit is leading us all into. If that's what happens, then the time we have spent will bear fruit for many years to come.

HEADWATERS OF THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI

Today I did something I never expected to do while on sabbatical. Sandi brought me to Lake Itasca, a beautiful state park in northern Minnesota where I was able to see and even stand in the headwaters of the Mississippi River, the place where the mighty river begins its 2552 mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico.

What is truly amazing is that the river at this point is just 12 feet wide and a few inches deep. It's hard to imagine that such a mighty river could begin in such a simple setting. I have seen this river many times, in several different places-- the Twin Cities, St. Louis, and New Orleans-- and I realize how important this mighty river has been to our nation over the centuries since it served as the western border of the United States. It has had and it continues to have a tremendous impact on our country's life.

Visiting that place and standing in the water touched me deeply spiritually. It reminded me of how great outcomes often come from very humble beginnings, and it encouraged me to renew my commitment to developing the "total ministry" work at our congregation back home.

So often we just cannot see the importance of what we do as servants of God. When we are called by God to share our gifts in the ministry of the gospel, we may ask ourselves "What is the value of doing that? What difference will it make?"  Our efforts seem so small and often inconsequential.

 The truth is that most of the things we may do to serve God by serving others are very much like my experience at the headwaters of the Mississippi. We can only see their humble beginning, and it is impossible to imagine what their final outcome will be. Someone standing in that shallow creek in Lake Itasca Park might never recognize the importance of that stream. But knowing what its final destination really is, we can be thankful and give God the best we have offer.

A SUMMER TO REMEMBER

One of my favorite jokes about Minnesota, the state where I lived through two winters with temps around 40 below, goes like this: "I was in Minnesota in June, the day it was summer that year." After this brief visit I think I will not tell that joke anymore.

But now I can tell about what it was like to live by myself in a seminary dorm for two nights at 80+ degrees, with no power, no hot water, and, of course, no air conditioning. The news reported that over a half million customers were without power. It was the worst thunderstorm on record in the history of the Twin Cities, and it will take five days before power is totally restored.

People here wonder what hurricanes are like back east . . .

Fortunately for me, I rented a car at the airport. That enabled me to get to a local mall outside the storm track where there was power. I joined dozens of people waiting for tables at "Bakers Square," a wonderful local pie restaurant that serves other meals as well. After 25 minutes I got a table which I shared with a young engineer from Iowa with whom I had been talking while on the waiting line. 

It was a good visit. I shared some of what I was doing on sabbatical, and I learned about him and his work. When he asked me what made me decide to become a pastor, I shared some of my experience. That opened a door for him to share about his faith journey as well, and it was an encouraging story.

After the meal I took a photo for my sabbatical album and we bid farewell. That meal made my day.

Later on I went to a movie and had dinner by myself and returned for my final night at the dorm.

Sunday morning was much better. It started out with a clap of thunder at 6 a.m., but by the time I was fully packed up and ready to check out, the rain subsided. I returned to Bakers Square for breakfast, and there was no waiting line this time.

I went on to the Cathedral Church of St. Mark in Minneapolis and arrived in time to find a parking spot. The early service was letting out as I neared the entrance, and I was greeted by Bishop Bruce Caldwell (former bishop of Wyoming) with whom I had made arrangements to meet after the 10:30 service. He recalled my contact and invited me to visit with him between the services in his office.

I learned a lot which I won't share here, and after that I went to the service where the two men I met with at Luther Seminary on Friday were ordained as deacons as part of the cathedral's new Shared Ministry Team. Two other team members were ordained as priests and one was commissioned as a Pastoral Care Minister, bringing the team to five members.

I went on from there to Alexandria where I stayed last night. The swimming pool was open, and the restaurant had no waiting line. I slept well in an air-conditioned room.

My only disappointment here is that I still haven't met any Egyptians. . . but there's still hope --  I haven't gone for breakfast yet.

ST. PAUL SUMMER

I lived here in the Twin Cities over 40 years ago while I was going to seminary and Linda was in Graduate School at the U of Minnesota. We were here during those winters when the temp was actually 40 below when heading out to class. But we never lived here during the summer.

Someone told me today that they had snow just a month ago in Minnesota, but if they did, it is long gone now. Going on 9 p.m. it is still almost 90 degrees out there, and even though the humidity is just 38%, it does feel like summer has come here.

I have the fan on and the windows are open, but just typing on my Ipad makes me sweat a bit.

Tomorrow I will visit with some folks at Olsen Center, a beautiful building built long after I was finished with my studies. I bet they have AC over there.

In the meantime I will try to get some rest. 9 p.m.here is 10 p.m. at home, and I'm often in bed by now at home. Perhaps my Netflix subscription will work. Maybe I will watch some detective shows from England . . .Enough for now.

THE TOP 137

I have been trying to rest and relax from time to time during this "in-between week" of my sabbatical. The rainy and cold "spring-like" weather hasn't really helped, so I have tried to get some work done that will help me remember what I experienced on my sabbatical so far.

One of the activities I spent time on was simply sorting through the 145 pages of handwritten notes I have in my Livescribe Notebook and pulling out key items worthy of further reflection.

One exercise I engaged in was making a list of the specific activities that I heard are being done in congregations in the UK and the USA as a result of the efforts of shared ministry teams. In compiling this list I was careful to avoid duplicates, but sometimes similar names used in different places can create the impression that the activities are the same. At the end of this review of my hand-written notes and without listening to the 90 or so hours of recorded meetings and visits I had, I came up with a list of activities I would call the "Top 137."

The activities range from hosting community "tea-times" to offering members a "Foundations in Living God's Love" course to organizing toddler groups to providing trained bereavement visitors. Other activities that shared ministry team members take part in, such as reading lessons in services, preaching, etc. are not on the list.

I was tempted to cut-and-paste the list right here, but I want to save it for later. Besides, it is simply a list of what others are doing because they have developed collaborative ministry teams in their particular parishes, not a checklist of activities every congregation might want to organize.

My point here is simply this: sharing ministry is a way of "being church" that eventually brings about specific activities, not a "program" that churches can simply adopt and carry out.

My sabbatical journey is about 2/3 over now, and I am starting to think more about what comes next, after I return to my pastoral role in the congregation. I have a lot of exciting stories to share, but what excites me most is the idea that if we are willing to allow God's Spirit to move among us and lead us in the months ahead, we will see some incredible results. Some of these might look like they come from the "Top 137" list, but if we allow God to work through us, we will come up with a list all our own.

WORSHIP VISITS

One of the peculiar challenges of being at home during my sabbatical is figuring out where to worship on Sunday. I suppose that since I don't have to lead worship, I could just stay home on the Sundays when I am not away from home. After all, many church members choose that option quite regularly, even when they are not "on sabbatical."

But I saw the weekend as an opportunity to visit other churches, so I went to Trinity, Rocky Point for their Saturday night service, and then on Sunday I visited St. Cuthbert's Episcopal Church in Selden before finally visiting the 11:15 service at Hope.

I enjoyed every service, especially because they were all different from each other. Trinity's service was a low-key contemporary service led by Pastor Kolbo. He preached about Confirmation because they were having confirmation on Sunday at Trinity.

St. Cuthbert has not had its own priest for ten years, so their mass was led by Father John Madden, the former Archdeacon for the Diocese of Long Island. He is one of three retired priests who come to preside at the church week after week. Since someone welcomed me, I told her who I was, and I was formally welcomed during the mass by the congregation. Later on I spoke with their Senior Warden about Shared Ministry, and she was very excited because their Vestry was going to be discussing their discernment exercise this week and one of their goals for this year is to develop relationships with other churches. I invited them to send their children to our summer camps and our VBS and Drama Camp as well.

My visit to Hope was also very good. I got there just before the service began because I was coming from St. Cuthbert's. Pastor James Smith from Wagner College was presiding and preaching, and I was eager to welcome him to Hope since he grew up in Selden and graduated from Newfield High School with several of our younger church members.

On June 20 I will fly to Minneapolis-St. Paul where I will stay at Luther Seminary, meet with some people there and attend a celebration at St. Mark's (Episcopal) Cathedral on the 23rd before heading north to accompany Sandi Holmberg from the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota who will bring me to some Total Ministry parishes before I go to the Ministry Summit in Little Falls, MN. My final Sunday visit will be in Hastings, MN before flying home on June 30th.

I hope that everyone will make good use of these weekend worship visits to our church and benefit from the preachers who come to Hope, and I hope many will be around when I'm back on July 14th, the 40th anniversary of my first worship service as a pastor.