Clear Lake June 22-26

Clear Lake, SD
June 22-26, 2011

Clear Lake is a lovely little town of about 350 - more this week as it was Rodeo Week! Moving from home to home this week afforded me the opportunity to visit with four different families of this small congregation:  Avis, Bernice, Norma & Russel, and Pastor Jim and wife Diane. Avis and I visited around town and had dinner with her daughter Pam. Bernice and her granddaughter Morgan took me "saling" as there were many rummage sales taking place all over Clear Lake. Norma and Russel took me on a road trip to Brookings to see a lovely garden, a drive around the UCC Church in Brookings and to SDSU for the best ice cream I've had in a long time! We also took a side trip to get right up to the softly spinning wind turbines around the area. Pastor Jim and Diane shared their lovely home and gave me some much needed quiet time on Saturday evening - I just put my feet up an vegetated in front of the TV.

One highlight of many was the opportunity to drive in the Classic Car Parade. Doug, son of Norma and Russel, restores antique tractors. He also restores old cars and I got to drive the big white, (did I say BIG?) Chevy Impala with red leather interior. Now That's what an engine should sound like! It was a pleasure to drive slowly down main street waving and smiling from behind the wheel of this classic.

Another highlight was a "coincidence" created by God: Thursday, at Bernice's home, I sat watching TV in her very cozy and comfortable livingroom, putting the finishing fringe on a blue Prayer Shawl I have been working on since I arrived this summer. As we talked, I realized (ok, sometimes it take me a while to put 2 and 2 together!) that Alice's funeral was on Saturday. I had met Richard, her husband, on Friday and he was gracious to me though naturally he was very sad. So I had Norma and Russel take a look at the Prayer Shawl and ok it as suitable for Richard; Norma came up with a gift bag the same color of blue; I put in the Prayer for Comfort and a brochure about the Prayer Shawl Ministry at First Congregational Church of Alameda; I had a label from FCCA and one last cross in my knitting bag which I attached to the shawl. Then on Saturday, I gave the bag to Richard's son Wayne and he will give it to Richard when things settle down a bit - there were a  LOT of people who came to honor Alice. It was God's timing that I was finishing the shawl only that week, that Norma had a gift bag the right color, and I had one more cross to sew in the corner of this comforting, blue prayer shawl. I was honored to be able to gift this shawl to Richard and hope that it will help to bring him peace and comfort. I have another shawl (brown) which I will travel with from now on, just in case. (Yes, she can learn!) I have also started a Baptismal Shawl... maybe God will find a use for it before the summer is out?

Pastor Jim was kind enough to let me step into the pulpit on Sunday. This was my 2nd sermon and I offered them my Jigsaw Puzzle Theology with a few personal stories thrown in for interest. The Clear Lake church is a lovely little building. Inside, they have a photo of the church taken in 1902 and only a few changes have been made over the years. It is a sweet little church which seats maybe 80 folks. The stained-glass windows are beautiful and the chancel is small but inviting. It was an honor to serve this small community of faithful. I wish them all the very best in the future; they are a very warm, welcoming and loving group of people.

Chickens, Coots and Congregants

Today at the Prairie Retreat in South Dakota, I went out onto the back porch of the sweet little white church to throw out the water from the flower vase before putting in new flowers. The water splashed onto the bushes and all the chickens looked up. There are a lot of chickens (and two big turkeys) on this farm. With great excitment, they all started running my way! They gathered around a few steps from the back porch and I admired the different colors, sizes, the lovely red combs and feathery legs. As they clucked quietly and gazed up at me standing on the porch I felt that something wonderful was expected of me. Probably lots of chicken feed.

This image made me think of the Coots who gathered in the Spring in the waters of the marina that was home to the Robert Gray (the 120' tugboat I lived on for 2 years). I love the Coots. They are small, black water birds with the biggest green feet you've ever seen. I mean, if you look at the feet in relation to the body, those are big green feet! These funny birds cruise around the marina, generally hooting quietly at each other, diving to chase fish and bobbing up to the surface like little corks to swallow and preen. Occasionally however, something happens and they will get into a fight and start to chase each other. Sometimes, when the issue is especially sensitive, the chase almost takes flight! They flap their black wings, necks outstretched, and run across the surface of the water! It's an amazing sight! I have always wanted to get a photo of a Coot running across the water, but haven't been on deck with my camera whenever a chase ensued. I had considered trying to sneak up on them, shouting loudly to scare the heck out of them and taking a shot while they ran away. But that didn't seem kind.

One day, a friend visited, and she loved the Coots too. "Can we feed them?" she asked. Of course! So we went to the galley for stale bread. Out on the deck, she threw bread into the water and behold! The Coots basking in the sun at the far shore ran briskly over on the tops of the waves to be the first to reach the floating bread! What's that old saying? You catch more bears with honey than with vinegar?

Now we come to the point of this particular blog - which is a question: we could apply this analogy to our shrinking congregations? Instead of preaching fire and brimstone from the pulpit, instead of bemoaning our loss of young folks, instead of voicing our fear of closing our doors or pleas for larger donations from the shrinking faithful, could we maybe find the right chicken feed, the appealing bread, the music, laughter and passionate praise that would sing in their souls so they flock to our doors clamoring for more?! What speaks to their Spirits? What are their hearts hungry for? What comforts their minds exhausted from multi-tasking? What words do they need to hear, what songs do they need to sing, and how can we fill the void left by Facebook friendship? Instead of chasing after people with lives too full already, too busy to even take time to breath... can we find what attracts them like honey? Can we offer them peace that really soothes the beleaguered soul? Can we give them true hope in the face of the shameful state of our planet? Can we foster in them a love that surpasses understanding? Faith, Hope and Love... and the greatest of these is Love.

Watertown, SD

Watertown for blog
June 14-19, 2011
What a lovely town!  Willa Austin was my most gracious host. She is the 90-something author of "Homesteaders Daughter" a memoir of her family. She is a fascinating woman with a wonderful sense of humor. Her home is beautiful and she gave me not only my own room, but my own bathroom with dressing table! I felt like visiting royalty.

The church is a beautifully spacious building - white pews and walls, with blue stained glass windows and a deep red carpet. Even the baby grand piano is white. Rev. Steven told me he has long wanted to put a candelabra on that piano and have the pianist wear sequins... however, he doesn't think his congregation would see the humor in that, so he hasn't done it. The congregation is about 250 or so, people of all ages. Two of the younger members played piano and flute beautifully for Sunday's service. A lovely congregation, very warm and welcoming.

I attended the Women's Fellowship Executive Board meeting. They were planning their upcoming year of events and sponsoring of programs at the church. This is a very strong core group of about 15 members. Most of the women are retired and all have a great love of this church. I also sat in on the Church Council Meeting. This Council works well together, spreading out the responsibilities so no one person is overburdened. Also a friendly, welcoming group. John was running the meeting in the absence of the current Moderator, and he gave me a few minutes to talk about my impressions of South Dakota and to speak to what we are being taught at PSR. I appreciated the time and attention of this Council.

About a month ago, Rev. Steven had put out a sign-up sheet for lunches, dinners and tours/events, so every day I had different people to hang out with and was taken to different sites within the city. It is always good to have folks who live in the city take a visitor around. There are so many attractions in Watertown, I would have been at a loss to choose for the short time I had to visit. Thank you to Phyllis, Darla, Sue, Wendy, Audrey and the Zemlicka family who had a church potluck at their farm on Friday. Rev. Steven hosted a dinner for Willa and me at his new home. He is quite the chef and has some amazing art in his beautiful home. Thanks to these gracious new friends I had a wonderful and busy visit, and was able to meet many members of this congregation.





Thanks to Rich and the youth of the church there is a small, delightful labyrinth in a side courtyard of the church. This was of great interest to me and I met with Rich on Saturday to talk about taking a design from paper to ground. Rev. Marjie and I are batting around the idea of creating a labyrinth at her Retreat, so this gave me some ideas to go on.

The town is wonderful; population about 22,000. Lots of trees and beautiful houses. I realized why I like homes in this part of the country better than the architecture in California... pointy roofs! Of course that is because they get snow out here (and LOTS of it), but I like the shape. I guess it speaks to my childhood in Ann Arbor Michigan and Windsor Ontario.

I fell in love with the Goss Opera House and Gallery. Lovely 3-story brick building which has been receiving restoration. It was an amazing find, walking into the lovely old theatre on the second floor! I ran all over taking pictures. Check it out at www.gossoperahouse.com 

I am also now on a mission to bring the art of Meranda Turbak to the Bay Area! Her amazing paintings hang in the Goss Gallery on the third floor. I purchased a print of "Happiness" and met the artist. She is a lovely young lady who also works in the cafe of the Goss. Check out her work at www.merandaturbank.com There is also a community theatre - they call themselves the Town Players. And there's a racetrack! This is quite a creative town and I may well go back for a visit if time permits.

Aberdeen - June 7-12

 

Aberdeen, SD
June 7-12
Rev. Jill Warner

Aberdeen UCC is a large, modern church with a congregation around 400. I stayed with Rev. Jill in a room upstairs in her lovely home. She was a wonderful host, sharing her church, touring Aberdeen and taking me to a theatrical performance on Saturday evening.

Rev. Jill was very open with her ministry. We joined other pastors for lunch at a local restaurant to talk about our various thoughts on Pentecost. We attended a Wednesday evening dinner and worship service, a Trustees meeting, and she gave me the opportunity to preach on Pentecost.

It was wonderful to work with her to design the worship service. She wanted a service that was different, dynamic and filled with the Spirit. Rev. Jill, Sandy and I had a great time creating sacred space on the chancel and altar. We were blessed by a young lady, Makala, who danced early in the service to a hymn that Rev. Jill sang and accompanied on electric keyboard. For a different style of Communion we set a dinner table with red cloth, white plates for the bread, and glass goblets for juice. People came up in groups of 10, and overall it went well for a new ritual. For Children's Time, Angela designed headbands with flames with a white dove that stood up like the flames on the Apostles heads that first Pentecost.

Rev. Jill introduced me to everyone at the top of worship and then... yes, folks, my Very First Sermon in Front of a Congregation! This was a delightful challenge, especially since I will be taking my first class in Preaching next Fall! I used two Biblical texts (1 Corinthians 12 and Acts 2), a youth-focused book called "God Will Not Forget You" and the Serendipty Student Study Bible.

After service I got many warm handshakes and best wishes from folks, so overall I think it went over pretty well. It remains to be seen if people minded me referring to God as "She." :-} I also was given the opportunity to do the Benediction and used the lovely blessing Rev. Jim Mitulski uses.

I am very grateful to Rev. Jill, Sandy, Angela and Nicole for a wonderful visit to Aberdeen. This next week I will be with Rev. Steven Bailey in Watertown. Stay tuned for further updates.

Love and blessings to all!
Michael

Prairie Retreat

I arrived at the Prairie Retreat and got to stay in the Big Red Barn Home, in a back bedroom upstairs. This Retreat is a true dream for my city-weary soul. The quiet is a balm to my heart and mind. The roosters do think it's morning most of the day and crow when the Spirit moves them; which is just fine with me. The two turkeys love to fan out their gorgeous plumage and chortle at me. (I am impressed, guys, you can relax!)

Rev. Marjie and her lovely husband Ray are true farmers with big hearts and excellent cooking skills. I have been helping Rev. Marjie air out, clean and put clean sheets on the many beds in the little Church and the Bunk House (which is in the back, ground level of the Big Red Barn) getting ready for guests. During a break in our work, Rev. Marjie shared a bit of her story with  me. What an amazing woman! I am blessed in having her as my Mentor this summer.

I also have done some actual work. The kitties helped me weed a patch of... well, weeds! I took out a LOT of them so we can see the irises which are gorgeous. It was a joy to get my hands in the dirt and commune with the bees visiting the flowers.

One of the congregations Rev. Marjie serves is in the bustling metropolis of Bryant (pop. about 350). The lovely little white church is comfortable and welcoming. This congregation has about 30 members and 22 folks came to worship on Sunday June 5. This was a great turnout as they had not been planning on having a service as Rev. Marjie and I were supposed to be off at the Prairie Lakes Annual Meeting in Pierre (yes, it's pronounced "Peer"), so we were pleased to see them all. Because of flooding on the Missouri River, the officials at Pierre said no one could come into the city unless they were planning to work on the dikes to hold back the rising river. So with 2 day's notice, the committee put together a meeting in Chamberlain. Most of the churches had representatives at the meeting and they got everything done in one afternoon! Five minutes for each report, vote to approve, lovely Move On! Amazing.

I will be going to the Post Office (pictured above) to mail some postcards soon. The mailman will bring packages, stamps, letters and take whatever ya got. I forgot my powercord for my laptop, and dear friend Nate mailed it to me. Several packages came that day and we found them upstairs just inside the door. Now that's a great mailman!

The most amazing feature here, for me, is the huge sky. The sunsets are 360 and gorgeous. I am very much the city girl though: one evening Rev. Marjie said we would have dinner and then we had to go load chickens. I gave her a look that made her burst out laughing. "load chickens" I queried? I was thinking, "ok, what are we going to load the chickens With?!" you know, is it like loading a shotgun? But no, we went to the chicken coop and loaded the chickens into crates and took them to Miss Flossy down the road who... how shall I put this? she prepares them for eating. As in, we went back the next day and got 40 chickens in plastic bags ready for roasting. This whole process was a bit much for my city heart/tummy and I wasn't much help loading the chickens. As I have always said, I am a terrible hypocrite... I don't like my food to look like who it was. If I had to kill my own meat I'd be a vegetarian. Currently, I'm not much interested in eating chicken.

But life on this planet is about life supporting life. Everything eats something else. Even the vegetables are life which we gather and use for our nourishment. This experience is giving me a deep appreciation for that cyclical life. Rev. Marjie and I also went out to the garden and picked rhubarb for a rhubarb crumble for dessert. The leaves are as big as elephant ears and the stocks at least 3-fingers wide. Delicious. And I have been eating a LOT of asparagus also fresh from the garden. I've never tasted asparagus like that! And here, with all the hard work involved in producing this food, the prayer before supper is sincere and real. Life here is real. You know?

So... this week (June 7-12) I am in Aberdeen. Following report will come from Rev. Jill Warner's church where I'll be preaching on Pentecost (yikes!). This is some of my favorite Scripture though and a celebration dear to my heart, so it will be fun. Rev. Jill, Sandy and I sat on the chancel steps last night designing the sacred space decoration and deciding how to do Communion. Rev. Jill is relaxed because I'll be preaching! This will be my first sermon, like, ever! Pray for me!

Love to all from windy North-East South Dakota!
Michael