For the third time in my time as youth missioner I've had to make the call to cancel a camp program. Of all the things I've had to do in this position this is far and away my least favorite.
I'd rather do budget proposals. And that's saying a lot.
All of this has thrown a huge monkey wrench in my day. In fact it's been a growing cloud over me for the last several days. By Friday last we still only had 5 applications and we needed 20. A miracle was possible but grew less likely each day. Saturday's mail - 0. Today's mail - 0. So I made the call. Now I have 5 follow up letters to write, some check requests for reimbursements to fill out and months of asking the same question over and over.
"So what happened?"
The honest answer is I don't know. Likely suspects include:
The Economy - Our camp programs aren't terribly expensive. A week at Junior High would set a family back $395 per child plus canteen money (about $10). But this economy stinks and western New York is not a economic powerhouse in the best of times. At least not recently. We have a scholarship fund and it was tapped very heavily for Senior High. Maybe families just decided not to send their middle school aged kids to camp.
Limited Demographic - We do seem to be in a bit of trough right now for this age group but I find it hard to believe that there aren't at least 20 kids of this age with some interest in a camp program. We've had plenty of kids come up through our Sleep Away program. Where do they go?
Communication Failure - Is it possible? We have a web page, e-mail newsletters, a Facebook presence, a text message service. We do a huge pre-camp mailing using all the names from previous years campers plus mailings to the congregations. I'm trying to get out and do more face to face communication too. From my own background I know that there's a difference between volume of communication and effective communication. If you're effective the volume doesn't have to be high. If you're not effective then you have to bombard your target audience. I don't know where I am at the moment.
Other - Competing events? Lack of relevance? Unspoken animosity/dissent? Personality issues? Nobody cares any more? I don't know.
When I'm rational on the subject, which I'm trying to be right now, my thought is that it must be a combination of the above. Maybe it's something of which I'm not aware. If so someone needs to tell me.
Over the years I've had several conversations with folks I respect about whether a youth event should EVER be canceled. They see the cancellation as just doing too much damage to the overall program. While agree that canceling takes years to repair I don't know how we face our financial supporters that we spent the kind of money we do for an event that serves such a very small population. We need to model responsible use of our gifts and resources for the whole church including our young people.
As I'm finishing this post I just exchanged texts with our camp director. I apologized for closing camp. His response? "We'll be back, stronger than ever."
That's the goal and a good reminder.
Time to start keeping my eye on the prize for next summer.
Peace
Showing posts with label Camp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Camp. Show all posts
Monday, July 20, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Something of a drought
I realized that I haven't posted a great deal recently other than routine things - resource reviews make up the majority of my posts over the last couple months. Take of the CREDO related ones and there's not much there. If you're still checking this blog you have my heart felt thanks.
So what's up? Not my mood at the moment. I'm feeling dis-spirited at the moment. It's mostly a convergence of little things. Post camp let down after Senior High. Always get that. The sadness that comes with the growing certainty that I'm going to cancel a camp this year. Junior High just has a handful of applications at the moment. We continue to struggle with the "why" question. Lower demographic numbers, bad economy, poor "marketing", combination of all of the above? Don't know. Add in having to do the financial report for senior high camp. Looks like we're close but OK there but it makes me crazy every year. I hate having to scrape and stint to make the budget work. I want to focus on the program and doing it right. SIGH. We're still hassling with a small problem with the mortgage on the house where I live (I don't hold the mortgage but I'm the executor to the estate that does). I wish I were getting clearer simpler answers than I am. And I wish this problem would go the hell away. I'm assured that the house will not be foreclosed upon (which is good since I'm living in it) but it wears on me.
Adding in is something that should be elevating my mood, our upcoming mission trip to New Orleans. I've never done a mission trip, ever. I'm always nervous before the first time I do something so that doesn't help. As a strong Myers-Briggs introvert these "everybody-all-together" events just wear on me. Add in the high heat and humidity down in NOLA this time of year and I have the potential for being miserable. I know, way to keep a good thought in my head, right? :)
In other news my bicycling is going well. A 20+ mile ride on Tuesday in less than 90 minutes was very encouraging. I rode into work without any trouble. Then I did another hour long ride of almost 13 miles two days later. One hill defeated me but otherwise it went well too. Between the weather and the mission trip I'm going to lose two weeks of cycling however.
My weight remains good. Steady at 175, then down to 173 this week with the riding. I'm hoping the work on the mission trip will make up for the lack of workouts. The next doctor's appointment is in 6 weeks. That's nagging at the back of my brain too.
I'm doing a little more creative stuff. Actually practicing my guitar every day for a least a little while. Need to do more of that stuff to balance the financial stuff.
The kid is doing her last weekend at her second summer job. It's a restaurant that is run strangely. They never seem to get around to posting a schedule for kitchen and wait staff (at another restaurant owned and operated by the same folks the staff simply started doing their own schedule and posting it. Management/ownership doesn't seem to care.) Plus strange attitudes on how things get done, decor, food etc. The whole situation was just making her crazy so she decided on her own to drop it. Tonight and tomorrow and she's free. And will be much happier.
I have lots of things to get done. At the moment I can't seem to put my hands on things however. I know I got an e-mail about something left at camp. I have the item, can't find the e-mail. Weird but typical for what's going on.
So hopefully I'll find the on switch again and get moving a little faster. I AM getting things done but slower than usual. I'm thinking about some things to write here but I'm not sure about them. I'll probably post about that process soon.
Pray for the youth of the diocese and the future of their programs.
Pray for me.
Peace
So what's up? Not my mood at the moment. I'm feeling dis-spirited at the moment. It's mostly a convergence of little things. Post camp let down after Senior High. Always get that. The sadness that comes with the growing certainty that I'm going to cancel a camp this year. Junior High just has a handful of applications at the moment. We continue to struggle with the "why" question. Lower demographic numbers, bad economy, poor "marketing", combination of all of the above? Don't know. Add in having to do the financial report for senior high camp. Looks like we're close but OK there but it makes me crazy every year. I hate having to scrape and stint to make the budget work. I want to focus on the program and doing it right. SIGH. We're still hassling with a small problem with the mortgage on the house where I live (I don't hold the mortgage but I'm the executor to the estate that does). I wish I were getting clearer simpler answers than I am. And I wish this problem would go the hell away. I'm assured that the house will not be foreclosed upon (which is good since I'm living in it) but it wears on me.
Adding in is something that should be elevating my mood, our upcoming mission trip to New Orleans. I've never done a mission trip, ever. I'm always nervous before the first time I do something so that doesn't help. As a strong Myers-Briggs introvert these "everybody-all-together" events just wear on me. Add in the high heat and humidity down in NOLA this time of year and I have the potential for being miserable. I know, way to keep a good thought in my head, right? :)
In other news my bicycling is going well. A 20+ mile ride on Tuesday in less than 90 minutes was very encouraging. I rode into work without any trouble. Then I did another hour long ride of almost 13 miles two days later. One hill defeated me but otherwise it went well too. Between the weather and the mission trip I'm going to lose two weeks of cycling however.
My weight remains good. Steady at 175, then down to 173 this week with the riding. I'm hoping the work on the mission trip will make up for the lack of workouts. The next doctor's appointment is in 6 weeks. That's nagging at the back of my brain too.
I'm doing a little more creative stuff. Actually practicing my guitar every day for a least a little while. Need to do more of that stuff to balance the financial stuff.
The kid is doing her last weekend at her second summer job. It's a restaurant that is run strangely. They never seem to get around to posting a schedule for kitchen and wait staff (at another restaurant owned and operated by the same folks the staff simply started doing their own schedule and posting it. Management/ownership doesn't seem to care.) Plus strange attitudes on how things get done, decor, food etc. The whole situation was just making her crazy so she decided on her own to drop it. Tonight and tomorrow and she's free. And will be much happier.
I have lots of things to get done. At the moment I can't seem to put my hands on things however. I know I got an e-mail about something left at camp. I have the item, can't find the e-mail. Weird but typical for what's going on.
So hopefully I'll find the on switch again and get moving a little faster. I AM getting things done but slower than usual. I'm thinking about some things to write here but I'm not sure about them. I'll probably post about that process soon.
Pray for the youth of the diocese and the future of their programs.
Pray for me.
Peace
Friday, June 05, 2009
Milestones
Two events of some level of importance happened this week.
First - for the last several years (hmm, like 6-7?) reaching the minimum number needed to put on some of our camp programs has been a stomach churning and occasionally heart breaking process. So it was great earlier this week to realize that we would pass that milestone for our Senior High Conference with almost a month to go. There have been several years where we took it right down to the wire and then some. Begging, pleading, arm twisting and more. At the moment we are past the minimum number with at least a handful more still to come that I'm confident of seeing. There maybe another handful out there as well. So very good. We may still have to go through the agony for our next two camps but it's great to have breathing room for a change at the start of the summer.
Second - I'm only going to give a tease here because I want to do a little bit of fancy stuff about this later today. I've been looking for challenges for my bike riding this summer beyond my annual ride around the lake (about 42 miles). I'd been eyeing one particular hill coming up from the flatlands along Lake Erie up to the village where I live. The hill is about 6 miles long with no real breaks in the climb. If I remember correctly you rise some 800 feet over the course of the ride. I had really put that down as a train all summer and take it on at the end kind of challenge. Well today I rode the "back way" into the village where the climb starts with a couple friends and they said "Let's do it today!". On my third ride of the year. With only 20 miles under my belt and 10 of those had come that very morning.
Sure. Why not?
And I whupped that hill. The ride took 45 minutes which is well below what I had expected. We stopped once about half way up to make sure everyone was OK. The break was about 2 minutes. I'm fairly certain I could have made it without stopping, I really felt pretty strong at that point. That climb would have been flat out impossible a year ago. Just amazing. (OK that turned out to be more than a tease)
It's been a good week.
Peace
First - for the last several years (hmm, like 6-7?) reaching the minimum number needed to put on some of our camp programs has been a stomach churning and occasionally heart breaking process. So it was great earlier this week to realize that we would pass that milestone for our Senior High Conference with almost a month to go. There have been several years where we took it right down to the wire and then some. Begging, pleading, arm twisting and more. At the moment we are past the minimum number with at least a handful more still to come that I'm confident of seeing. There maybe another handful out there as well. So very good. We may still have to go through the agony for our next two camps but it's great to have breathing room for a change at the start of the summer.
Second - I'm only going to give a tease here because I want to do a little bit of fancy stuff about this later today. I've been looking for challenges for my bike riding this summer beyond my annual ride around the lake (about 42 miles). I'd been eyeing one particular hill coming up from the flatlands along Lake Erie up to the village where I live. The hill is about 6 miles long with no real breaks in the climb. If I remember correctly you rise some 800 feet over the course of the ride. I had really put that down as a train all summer and take it on at the end kind of challenge. Well today I rode the "back way" into the village where the climb starts with a couple friends and they said "Let's do it today!". On my third ride of the year. With only 20 miles under my belt and 10 of those had come that very morning.
Sure. Why not?
And I whupped that hill. The ride took 45 minutes which is well below what I had expected. We stopped once about half way up to make sure everyone was OK. The break was about 2 minutes. I'm fairly certain I could have made it without stopping, I really felt pretty strong at that point. That climb would have been flat out impossible a year ago. Just amazing. (OK that turned out to be more than a tease)
It's been a good week.
Peace
Saturday, August 30, 2008
I'm a gitar man!
Whoops, I almost forgot the major new "skill" I picked up this summer! This is the summer that I officially became a guitar player! I've been a guitar owner for a while now but couldn't play anything. So under the hectoring guidance of our Junior High camp director I learned to play a song in 4 days and perform it in public.
The song is "They will know we are Christians by our love". I chose that song not out of some deep theological basis or because it was the song "I've always wanted to play".
Nope.
Chose it because it only has two chords. Am and Em. Which the real guitar players will tell you are two REALLY EASY chords!
My "teacher" was disgusted. He ranted. He raved. He kept badgering me to change songs, to add a chord (his arrangement has at least 3 and maybe 4 chords. I refused), to be a man about it. (I note that he was mostly kidding. Mostly)I stood my ground. I had 4 days and maybe 45 minutes a day if I was lucky. Simple was my friend. He did con(vince) me to include a quick intro and outro which I managed to learn.
When it came time for the performance at the talent show I told the whole story to the kids. Then I sang LOUD! It helps to drown out the missed chords. I'd say I got 75% of them right, maybe. Might be a little less than that.
The kids gave me a standing, roaring ovation.
So now I'm working on my second song. An old folk tune that my Dad sang when I was growing up.
Tom Dooley.
It has two chords.
I'm like that.
Peace
The song is "They will know we are Christians by our love". I chose that song not out of some deep theological basis or because it was the song "I've always wanted to play".
Nope.
Chose it because it only has two chords. Am and Em. Which the real guitar players will tell you are two REALLY EASY chords!
My "teacher" was disgusted. He ranted. He raved. He kept badgering me to change songs, to add a chord (his arrangement has at least 3 and maybe 4 chords. I refused), to be a man about it. (I note that he was mostly kidding. Mostly)I stood my ground. I had 4 days and maybe 45 minutes a day if I was lucky. Simple was my friend. He did con(vince) me to include a quick intro and outro which I managed to learn.
When it came time for the performance at the talent show I told the whole story to the kids. Then I sang LOUD! It helps to drown out the missed chords. I'd say I got 75% of them right, maybe. Might be a little less than that.
The kids gave me a standing, roaring ovation.
So now I'm working on my second song. An old folk tune that my Dad sang when I was growing up.
Tom Dooley.
It has two chords.
I'm like that.
Peace
Friday, August 29, 2008
What I Did on My Summer Vacation
As promised here's how I've spent the last couple months.
For me summer began with our trip to Las Vegas. I've written briefly about it back on May 22. The trip was great. Of all the things we wanted to do I knew that doing the "Star Trek Experience" at the Hilton was going to be at the top of the list. So yes that's me fulfilling a lifelong dream, sitting in the Captain's chair on the bridge of the starship Enterprise.
Yes, I'm a geek. Get over it.
After that it was a sprint to get ready for back to back events. Senior High Conference ended just two days before we flew out to the Episcopal Youth Event. So it was pack up everything needed for the conference (I fill the back of a mid-size SUV with the seats folded down), do the conference, then come home, partially unpack, wash my clothes and then take off. Such fun.
Senior High was good. Our numbers were up one or two from last year. The young people seemed to enjoy themselves despite some glitches (the university keeps changing the rules at the pool on us, without telling us!). I led a whole conference workshop on "Tending the Temple" talking about caring for ourselves in body, mind and spirit. On the whole I'd call it a success.
The it was EYE time. We arrived at the airport at 4:30 AM to take a 6 AM flight to San Antonio. As always the kids did me proud and we arrived without any adventures at all. Trinity University is a beautiful campus and was a great host. The weather was hot and humid. Combined with the Texan tendency to run their AC ice cold I lost my voice after less than 48 hours. The music, the worship, the classes, the chance to meet with young people and adults from all over the country was absolutely great!Then back home to try and get caught up on tasks around the house (still not caught up), to watch our tomato plants try and figure out if they were going to live or die (still up in the air) and maybe get a little rest too. Somehow it just didn't feel very restful.
At the beginning of August we had friends come visit us which was very cool! Tom is one of my oldest friends (meaning longest standing, although he IS older than me). It was great to have him and Jen and the girls come visit. The house has lots of beds but isn't really ideal for having guests in some ways. You do the best you can. Then just before camp kicked back in my lady wife, daughter and I jumped into the car and did a banzai run out to Chicago to be with another couple friends as they celebrated a combined 90th birthday (he's 50, she's not). We drove out Friday, went to the party, spent the day with them on Saturday then drove half way home Saturday night, then finished up Sunday. All three of us had to be at work Sunday afternoon so it was an interesting experience. Not one I'm sure we'd do again but it was a special occasion.
Then back to camp. A week with the Junior High camp. It poured down rain for the first two days. Which is very bad. You do NOT want a bunch of junior high aged kids trapped inside. At least not with you. Fortunately the weather lifted (but stayed pretty cool) and the rest of the week went well. I did manage to come down with laryngitis along the way. Then a couple more days off before Sleep Away Camp. Fortunately I'm not on staff there I just am there to run errands and do some support work. So I got to sleep at home.
Finally back home to stay. And unpack. And sort. And do paperwork. The end of summer is not my favorite time of the year. Plus it has been abnormally cool for this time of year which is no fun either. Took the kid off to college and moved her into her first apartment. Add in a couple small car problems and it was a full summer. We didn't get the chance to do nearly enough grilling on the back deck.
So at the moment I'm still feeling a little run down but that'll change as I settle back into the routine.
Peace
Sunday, August 03, 2008
An attempt to get back in the groove
I have an interesting problem during the summer.
Too many days off.
Yeah, I know. I can just hear the sympathy dripping off you all.
Because I'm still at 80% of full time and I'm very busy during camp weeks and EYE I end up with a fair amount of comp time. My bishop is pretty directive about me taking it. When I'm at camp or EYE I actually end up working between 2 and 3 weeks worth of hours in a single week. And let's face it by the time I'm done I'm pretty well wiped out. Not only are the hours long (camp is 7 AM to 11 PM) but as a Myers-Briggs INTP all that "people time" just wears me out.
The problem is that if I'm taking comp time I can't get any work done! It's a conundrum. So I cut back to just 2 days a week for the last couple weeks. That keeps me from falling too far behind. Unfortunately it means some things don't get done right away. Like blogging.
What's that you say? Couldn't I blog from home? Sure. Heck that's where I am right now! But I try to get as much rest as I can (which I need since I'm OLD) plus I can get caught up on chores around the house. Things like mowing the grass, cleaning the garage and weeding the several quite large plant beds around the house. Which doesn't create a lot of bloggable adventure.
But I'm caught up on comp time and headed back into a more normal routine starting tomorrow. So I thought I'd get caught up a bit on blogging.
First, a momentous event! I met another of my online friends today! I've met folks from Tennessee, Maine, and North Caroline but I'd never managed to meet my friend Pseudopiskie who lives all of about 2 hours from here. We just missed meeting a couple weeks ago. So she drove up today and we spent the afternoon together. I'll link to our photo as soon as she posts it. She got the only picture. It was great to meet her, we chatted like we've known each other for years. Which we have, virtually. I'm now up to five online friends that I've met in real life. I'd love to keep adding to that list.
And a new movie!
Pay It Forward - I'm aware that there's a tendency to sneer at this movie by some. It offends our culture's well fed sense of cynicism. Tough. This is a wonderful simple story told very well. It's got a great cast (Kevin Spacey (who I'll watch in anything), Helen Hunt (who I'll watch in anything, although for different reasons in part), Haley Joel Osment, Jon Bon Jovi (who's not a bad actor at all), Jay Mohr, James Caviezel, even Angie Dickinson!). Yes, there are some sniffle moments in the movie and a surprise ending but what a wonderful concept. We could do a lot worse than take the idea of Paying It Forward to heart. Oh and it's also a great theological message that's perfectly in accord with the Gospel. Do something for someone else with no expectation of being "paid back" and ask them to "pay it forward". Even a nice trinitarian touch! This is a truly good movie in just about every possible definition of the concept.
Quick notes: On my weight loss front I'm stalled but that's OK. I wanted to prove to myself that this was a real loss. That it could be maintained during my "real life". And I have, steady in the low 190s with only a couple pounds fluctuation from day to day which is perfectly normal. And all done during a time when I have completely stopped working out! So I'm expecting that I can take the next jump once I kick the workouts back into my schedule. Good stuff.
Haven't ridden the bike much nor played much golf. I've written a few new things and I have an idea for something totally new for me. It's either going to be really cool or I'm going to a complete idiot. We'll see.
Peace
Too many days off.
Yeah, I know. I can just hear the sympathy dripping off you all.
Because I'm still at 80% of full time and I'm very busy during camp weeks and EYE I end up with a fair amount of comp time. My bishop is pretty directive about me taking it. When I'm at camp or EYE I actually end up working between 2 and 3 weeks worth of hours in a single week. And let's face it by the time I'm done I'm pretty well wiped out. Not only are the hours long (camp is 7 AM to 11 PM) but as a Myers-Briggs INTP all that "people time" just wears me out.
The problem is that if I'm taking comp time I can't get any work done! It's a conundrum. So I cut back to just 2 days a week for the last couple weeks. That keeps me from falling too far behind. Unfortunately it means some things don't get done right away. Like blogging.
What's that you say? Couldn't I blog from home? Sure. Heck that's where I am right now! But I try to get as much rest as I can (which I need since I'm OLD) plus I can get caught up on chores around the house. Things like mowing the grass, cleaning the garage and weeding the several quite large plant beds around the house. Which doesn't create a lot of bloggable adventure.
But I'm caught up on comp time and headed back into a more normal routine starting tomorrow. So I thought I'd get caught up a bit on blogging.
First, a momentous event! I met another of my online friends today! I've met folks from Tennessee, Maine, and North Caroline but I'd never managed to meet my friend Pseudopiskie who lives all of about 2 hours from here. We just missed meeting a couple weeks ago. So she drove up today and we spent the afternoon together. I'll link to our photo as soon as she posts it. She got the only picture. It was great to meet her, we chatted like we've known each other for years. Which we have, virtually. I'm now up to five online friends that I've met in real life. I'd love to keep adding to that list.
And a new movie!
Pay It Forward - I'm aware that there's a tendency to sneer at this movie by some. It offends our culture's well fed sense of cynicism. Tough. This is a wonderful simple story told very well. It's got a great cast (Kevin Spacey (who I'll watch in anything), Helen Hunt (who I'll watch in anything, although for different reasons in part), Haley Joel Osment, Jon Bon Jovi (who's not a bad actor at all), Jay Mohr, James Caviezel, even Angie Dickinson!). Yes, there are some sniffle moments in the movie and a surprise ending but what a wonderful concept. We could do a lot worse than take the idea of Paying It Forward to heart. Oh and it's also a great theological message that's perfectly in accord with the Gospel. Do something for someone else with no expectation of being "paid back" and ask them to "pay it forward". Even a nice trinitarian touch! This is a truly good movie in just about every possible definition of the concept.
Quick notes: On my weight loss front I'm stalled but that's OK. I wanted to prove to myself that this was a real loss. That it could be maintained during my "real life". And I have, steady in the low 190s with only a couple pounds fluctuation from day to day which is perfectly normal. And all done during a time when I have completely stopped working out! So I'm expecting that I can take the next jump once I kick the workouts back into my schedule. Good stuff.
Haven't ridden the bike much nor played much golf. I've written a few new things and I have an idea for something totally new for me. It's either going to be really cool or I'm going to a complete idiot. We'll see.
Peace
Sunday, June 22, 2008
I fall down now
Well the big day came today and I survived. The first of what I hope is several "loops" of the lake near where I live. The whole thing is about 41 miles with lots of hills of varying difficulty. Turns out only two of us were planning on doing the whole loop (wimps) but the other guy was obviously in a lot better shape than me. The good news (?) was he was recovering from knee surgery and needed to "take it easy". Excellent.
I'm quite happy to report that there were no major difficulties along the way. We made very good time (setting a personal best at 4 hours). The biggest problem came at the end when I had a small equipment problem.
It seems this little monster, known as the front derailleur, was slightly out of alignment. It seems a small thing right? Well the function of a front derailleur is to move the chain on the front gears. because of the misalignment I couldn't get into my 5 lowest gears. Which are extremely valuable when climbing hills. And the steepest hills are on the last leg of the loop. I managed to negotiate the hills without too much difficulty but by the end my legs had had it. I wasn't quite sure I was going to make it up the last incline to the parking lot. But I did. All because the derailleur couldn't move another quarter inch. It's an easy fix that I wish I'd caught earlier. Sigh.
Today marked the debut of our visiting clergy from Wales. Fr. Noel Carter and his wife Wendy joined us for the first of four Sundays while our regular rectors, Fr. Eric and Mother Susan, are in Wales, then England then France. A long distance pulpit swap. Fr. Noel's sermon was quite good and they seem very nice. So we're working hard to make them feel at home. We hope Eric and Susan (and the girls) are having fun. But not too much fun.
One week to Senior High Conference. Am I ready?
I'll assume that's a rhetorical question.
Must sleep now.
Peace
I'm quite happy to report that there were no major difficulties along the way. We made very good time (setting a personal best at 4 hours). The biggest problem came at the end when I had a small equipment problem.
It seems this little monster, known as the front derailleur, was slightly out of alignment. It seems a small thing right? Well the function of a front derailleur is to move the chain on the front gears. because of the misalignment I couldn't get into my 5 lowest gears. Which are extremely valuable when climbing hills. And the steepest hills are on the last leg of the loop. I managed to negotiate the hills without too much difficulty but by the end my legs had had it. I wasn't quite sure I was going to make it up the last incline to the parking lot. But I did. All because the derailleur couldn't move another quarter inch. It's an easy fix that I wish I'd caught earlier. Sigh.Today marked the debut of our visiting clergy from Wales. Fr. Noel Carter and his wife Wendy joined us for the first of four Sundays while our regular rectors, Fr. Eric and Mother Susan, are in Wales, then England then France. A long distance pulpit swap. Fr. Noel's sermon was quite good and they seem very nice. So we're working hard to make them feel at home. We hope Eric and Susan (and the girls) are having fun. But not too much fun.
One week to Senior High Conference. Am I ready?
I'll assume that's a rhetorical question.
Must sleep now.
Peace
Saturday, December 08, 2007
My time as a sojourner
Psalm 39 has one of those phrases that has just always stuck with me (from the KJV days) - "...for I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner...". The youth I work with can tell you that I have a thing about language and words. Sojourner (a person who belongs somewhere else but is staying for a time in a different place) is a word that has always appealed to me. In this last week I've gotten the chance to truly feel what it means.
I got the chance to attend an annual meeting of ELCA camp and conference center leaders. They had arranged for Loren Mead, author of "The Once and Future Church"
(among many others) to come and talk with us about the place of faith based camp programs in the 21st Century. While many secular camp programs are doing well, church camp is struggling. Loren is an expert on the subject of paradigm shifts (don't roll your eyes!) and the church. Paradigm is simply a shared set of values or beliefs. So a paradigm shift happens when a culture's (large or small) shared set of values change. In the last 50 years we have been in the middle of a massive paradigm shift. The least comfortable place to be during such a time is in the middle of the shift. It's stable at either end but it's hard to find stability in the middle.
You'll note I said leaders from ELCA camps. You may also be aware that I am neither on a camp staff nor am I Lutheran. Our local ELCA camp happens to employ my wife and I serve in a couple roles as a volunteer there. The subject sounded very interesting so I asked if I could tag along and they agreed. It occurred to me though that I wasn't quite sure how to present myself to the larger group. In the end, while I put my link with the ELCA up front, I was clear that I was primarily employed by the Episcopal church. My favorite short version is to tell people I'm a "Lutherpalian". By the second day (the meeting started on Monday and we came home on Thursday) it didn't really matter. They accepted me quite warmly.
What I learned at this meeting will take a while to percolate down through my brain. It was interesting. Loren is a wonderful person who fulfills the role of consultant the way it ought to be filled. Besides that he said some very nice things to me personally! I think it amused him to find another Episcopalian at the conference (Loren is an Episcopal priest).
What really struck me was how the sojourner in their midst was treated. There's a clear instruction in the Scriptures that sojourners are to be treated well. I was treated as a welcome and valued member of the community. They listened thoughtfully to my offerings and seemed to find them worthwhile. At the end of our time together I was told (by several folks) that I was welcome to continue to come to those meetings. I am now "family" and a sojourner no more. That's how faith-filled community is supposed to work.
And that's a very special feeling indeed. My thanks to my new "family" from places like LCLC, Lutherlyn, Calumet, Bear Creek and the other camps whose names escape me at the moment.
Peace
I got the chance to attend an annual meeting of ELCA camp and conference center leaders. They had arranged for Loren Mead, author of "The Once and Future Church"
(among many others) to come and talk with us about the place of faith based camp programs in the 21st Century. While many secular camp programs are doing well, church camp is struggling. Loren is an expert on the subject of paradigm shifts (don't roll your eyes!) and the church. Paradigm is simply a shared set of values or beliefs. So a paradigm shift happens when a culture's (large or small) shared set of values change. In the last 50 years we have been in the middle of a massive paradigm shift. The least comfortable place to be during such a time is in the middle of the shift. It's stable at either end but it's hard to find stability in the middle.You'll note I said leaders from ELCA camps. You may also be aware that I am neither on a camp staff nor am I Lutheran. Our local ELCA camp happens to employ my wife and I serve in a couple roles as a volunteer there. The subject sounded very interesting so I asked if I could tag along and they agreed. It occurred to me though that I wasn't quite sure how to present myself to the larger group. In the end, while I put my link with the ELCA up front, I was clear that I was primarily employed by the Episcopal church. My favorite short version is to tell people I'm a "Lutherpalian". By the second day (the meeting started on Monday and we came home on Thursday) it didn't really matter. They accepted me quite warmly.
What I learned at this meeting will take a while to percolate down through my brain. It was interesting. Loren is a wonderful person who fulfills the role of consultant the way it ought to be filled. Besides that he said some very nice things to me personally! I think it amused him to find another Episcopalian at the conference (Loren is an Episcopal priest).
What really struck me was how the sojourner in their midst was treated. There's a clear instruction in the Scriptures that sojourners are to be treated well. I was treated as a welcome and valued member of the community. They listened thoughtfully to my offerings and seemed to find them worthwhile. At the end of our time together I was told (by several folks) that I was welcome to continue to come to those meetings. I am now "family" and a sojourner no more. That's how faith-filled community is supposed to work.
And that's a very special feeling indeed. My thanks to my new "family" from places like LCLC, Lutherlyn, Calumet, Bear Creek and the other camps whose names escape me at the moment.
Peace
Monday, August 20, 2007
Well I'm back
And I'm feeling grumpy.
Running around between three camps and a major family visit all in the span of 14 days has taken their toll. I've come down with a summer cold, quite possibly the most depressing of all illnesses. Plus the weather has been cold and dreary the last couple days.
Grump, grump, grump.
But that's not all. We had three campers simply not show up at one camp. The new management team at our facility is holding us to the terms of the contract (the previous managers were more casual about that. Which may be why they're the "previous" managers) which says we have to give a final count two weeks in advance. Well the count we gave was 33 and the final count was 30. That's a nearly $900 unfunded expense staring at me. I'm not upset in anyway with the facility, they are perfectly in their rights and they are at least considering my request to adjust the count. That's EXTREMELY nice of them. And something they don't have to do.
No the people I'm ticked with are the folks who simply didn't show up. Two of the three are folks with whom I'm familiar, they have my number, my e-mail, my address. Never heard a word from them. And now my budget, tight at best, has a big ole hole in it. The bills will be paid, money can be juggled to cover. But it means that other programs will be even tighter for the rest of the year.
So next year we'll be more serious about deadlines, deposits will be non-refundable, and fees paid for campers who drop out less than two weeks prior to camp will be forfeit as well.
And people will scream bloody murder. Just lovely.
Other than that camp went really well. All our camps were successes on their own merits. The kids had a great time. The staffs were marvelous.
Just wish I could enjoy the moment.
Grump, grump, grump.
Peace
Running around between three camps and a major family visit all in the span of 14 days has taken their toll. I've come down with a summer cold, quite possibly the most depressing of all illnesses. Plus the weather has been cold and dreary the last couple days.
Grump, grump, grump.
But that's not all. We had three campers simply not show up at one camp. The new management team at our facility is holding us to the terms of the contract (the previous managers were more casual about that. Which may be why they're the "previous" managers) which says we have to give a final count two weeks in advance. Well the count we gave was 33 and the final count was 30. That's a nearly $900 unfunded expense staring at me. I'm not upset in anyway with the facility, they are perfectly in their rights and they are at least considering my request to adjust the count. That's EXTREMELY nice of them. And something they don't have to do.
No the people I'm ticked with are the folks who simply didn't show up. Two of the three are folks with whom I'm familiar, they have my number, my e-mail, my address. Never heard a word from them. And now my budget, tight at best, has a big ole hole in it. The bills will be paid, money can be juggled to cover. But it means that other programs will be even tighter for the rest of the year.
So next year we'll be more serious about deadlines, deposits will be non-refundable, and fees paid for campers who drop out less than two weeks prior to camp will be forfeit as well.
And people will scream bloody murder. Just lovely.
Other than that camp went really well. All our camps were successes on their own merits. The kids had a great time. The staffs were marvelous.
Just wish I could enjoy the moment.
Grump, grump, grump.
Peace
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Off to camp I go
The next two weeks are going to be crazed! I'm headed out the door shortly to A.R.T.S camp (Art,Recreation, Theater and Song). It ends on Friday night with performances by the kids, then I'm off to a rehearsal dinner for the wedding of one of my former youth, the wedding is on Saturday. We've volunteered to sort of MC the event, just keep things organized and rolling so the family doesn't have to.
Oh and both my brothers and their families are coming to visit this week too. I'll have to sneak out of camp a couple nights to hang with them (which I can do without damaging the camp program)
Then next Sunday it's off to Junior High Camp and on Wednesday I'll be at Sleep Away camp. Yes, two in one week. Fun, wow.
Then I have to try and put everything in order.
Then I'm taking my usual week of post camp vacation.
So I'll probably not be updating here for at least a couple weeks. I'll try to sneak in if I can but I'm not sure either of the camps have internet.
Peace
Oh and both my brothers and their families are coming to visit this week too. I'll have to sneak out of camp a couple nights to hang with them (which I can do without damaging the camp program)
Then next Sunday it's off to Junior High Camp and on Wednesday I'll be at Sleep Away camp. Yes, two in one week. Fun, wow.
Then I have to try and put everything in order.
Then I'm taking my usual week of post camp vacation.
So I'll probably not be updating here for at least a couple weeks. I'll try to sneak in if I can but I'm not sure either of the camps have internet.
Peace
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Back from Senior High
Wow, what an amazing experience! It was a great time and exhausting as always. I'll share some more details after the holiday. Great kids, great chaplain, great staff. Merely adequate conference director but the kids seem to love him, lol!
With any luck at all I'll have my office back under control soon and then can get on to the new projects that are waiting. I'm excited about them too.
In the meantime here's something fun I ran across:
I got my name in lights with notcelebrity.co.uk
Have a wonderful Independence Day holiday!
Peace
With any luck at all I'll have my office back under control soon and then can get on to the new projects that are waiting. I'm excited about them too.
In the meantime here's something fun I ran across:
I got my name in lights with notcelebrity.co.uk
Have a wonderful Independence Day holiday!
Peace
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Off to camp!
I won't be posting for the next week (which probably explains why I felt like having so many posts this past week!). I'm off to our Senior High conference. A week long time of worship, study and fun (in no particular order). We're a bit on the small size this year but last year we found out what a good time can be had by a smaller group of young people.
So please keep us in your prayers. The bishop will be joining us which is always a blast.
No really, it's fun having the bishop around.
Seriously.
There really are fun bishops out there (the portion of Canada nearest me seems to have an unreasonable percentage of funny bishops for some reason) and I'm lucky enough to have one.
We'll have lots of photos and even videos this year of the conference which we'll share as soon as we can.
Peace
So please keep us in your prayers. The bishop will be joining us which is always a blast.
No really, it's fun having the bishop around.
Seriously.
There really are fun bishops out there (the portion of Canada nearest me seems to have an unreasonable percentage of funny bishops for some reason) and I'm lucky enough to have one.
We'll have lots of photos and even videos this year of the conference which we'll share as soon as we can.
Peace
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