Here’s how the day began:
Woke up at 5:30. R got up soon afterward to get showered before the girls woke up. I fed M at 6:15 and put her back down. The cab picked me up at 6:30. I took the Metro to the airport and checked in with R around 8:00. He said, “You’re not going to believe this.”
They were both still asleep.
We could’ve had a morning to sleep in?!?!?
Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!
[shaking fist at the sleep gods]
And here’s how the day ended:
With me pouring a bottle brimming with freshly-pumped breastmilk down the sink.
Moment of silence, please.
Pump-and-dump for the sole purpose of maintaining one’s supply while traveling is a heartbreak of Sisyphean proportions.
Aside from that, things are going well in KC. The conference is at a Methodist church that has grown from 100 members to 14,000 in 16 years. I cannot imagine the leadership and logistical gymnastics required to make such a shift. The thing is, mega-church does not feel like home to me by any stretch–but what they’re here doing has a real integrity. And the whole point of this conference is that there’s life in the old mainline girl yet, which I think is a good message.
One quick idea from today: the church provides one week paid leave for every staff member to do some mission trip or project of their choice–that’s not connected to their job. The point is to be renewed and restored while reaching out to others, separate from vacation and continuing education time. They will also provide stipends to help offset the cost of the trip, and the stipends increase based on seniority. The mission might also take place locally–it’s up to the interests of the person.
Tomorrow I will be attending workshops on adult Sunday School, communicating with the larger community about the church, and strategies for welcoming newcomers to the church. I will also be hearing a keynote with Brian McLaren, which should be interesting.
Has anyone read the articles in the Christian Century yet about prison ministry? I was totally captivated. I could not believe how strongly those pieces nudged me, but yeesh, the thought of it scares me as much as it fascinates me to think about. As several articles put it, “Jesus was a death row convict.”
I’m also reading Barbara Brown Taylor’s “Leaving Church” which is just lovely.
Time to go to bed.
12 Responses to “postcard from KC”
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Asides
» I have been remiss in posting SBJ’s latest stats: 23 pounds and 27 inches at six months. Yes, I’ve got the big mama biceps.
» Aaaaaand little she-who-is lost another tooth this week!
» SBJ is four months old, 19 pounds 5 ounces, and 26 inches tall. GIGANTOR!
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I just love living some of my life through you(re) experiences. Thanks for keeping me posted.
Sirens in DC…then NYC tomorrow morning early on Amtrak….life is good!
Ah! Prison ministry! Have you ever wandered into involvement with Kairos (for incarcerated men) or Kairos Outside (for women of incarcerated relatives)? Very cool stuff — very powerful hearing the God stories… ask me and I’ll tell you more…
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Just got my CC so I haven’t read it. Will have to check it out. The mission trip thingy sounds so cool.
Read BBT’s Leaving Church. It was great but it also broke my heart. Broke it. I kept wanting to say “No! Don’t leave parish ministry. C’mon. Stick in there so the rest of us know it can be done!” Since I think I am in it for the long haul, I really wanted her to find a way to keep plugged in (spiritually speaking), be herself, AND be a priest. I also wish she had reflected on how the “celebrity preaching” gigs affected or did not affect her parish ministry. But, she still speaks my heart, even if I wish it were not so…
You write, I nod. And say to myself, mmmhmmm, yep.
Looking forward to reading your reflections on the rest of the conference, as well as the book — I’m slated to read and discuss for next week.
We had an active Kairos ministry since there is a large state prison (remember the movie Sugarland Express?) near our church.
I’d love to hear any ideas you get for adult SS from the meeting. Enjoy!
My friend who was an associate pastor at our church and who is working on her ThD highly recommended BBT’s book also.
Wish I could be there too.
Read the prison articles during lunch today — my own mini-sabbath in a favorite restaurant alone. So, so nice. I could read every word and no one asked me for anything. They were compelling and I had just been talking with parishioner about her relative in a women’s prison (8 years for embezzlement; 10 year old son at home; husband divorcing her so he can date the church secretary.) Yikes.
Love BBT’s book and there’s a discussion in presbytery about it coming up -
I can’t wait to hear more about this church.
I went away for a week when my daughter was around M’s age. I didn’t pump at all and we were just fine when I got back. I think if you’ve been nursing for a while, you won’t dry up in just a few days.
Glad to hear from you!
The CC prison articles are riveting.
Presbyterian Outlook has BBT on the cover this week.
Have a great time.
I read the BBT book. Might not have been the best choice in books for a person taking her second seminary class and just beginning this journey. Then again, maybe so. I loved the book. It was my first BBT. Her prose is captivating, but I really don’t know how to take it. Cautionary tale? Get out while you can?
Marie, I’m with you. It resonates so strongly with me that I really don’t know what to do with it.
I remember a college friend who is not religious at all saying, while I was studying for ministry, “I think you’ll do a good job, but I don’t see you doing that for the long term. It just doesn’t seem like you.” I chalked that up to a general discomfort or bemusement on his part–difficulty seeing the gal he used to drink with as a minister! Yet he may have been right, I don’t know if I’ve got 30 more years of parish ministry in me.
I know I don’t have to have it all figured out right now though! And neither do you! Let’s all enjoy the ride, eh?
Another thought I just had: BBT did not have the RevGals!