It’s been a tale of two weeks. One week very busy, one week not so busy. Both good.
The week of November 6th was very busy. It started on Sunday when I was at Good Samaritan in Sammamish. My thanks to the Rev. Charissa Bradstreet for the invitation to preside and preach.
If you are wondering why Mother Charissa was not at Good Samaritan on Sunday, it’s because she was at St Paul, Seattle for the baptism of her Godchild, Asher Jules.
After a day off on Monday, Tuesday brought the regular meeting of the The Bishop Rivera Fund Advisory Committee, the Richard Younge Curacy Fund Committee and the 2% BIPOC Ministry Fund Committee. These groups are working with each other and with me to do their work.
Wednesday and Thursday I was part of several meeting including the weekly meeting of the Bishop’s Exec Team. I had a wonderful conversation with the Rev. Ruth Ann Garcia about her work as the new interim priest at St James, Kent. She is working with the Rev. Anges Kuria who is gathering a worshipping community that is primarily Kenyan. They are both doing great work and I’m looking forward to visiting there in the new year.
Also on Thursday, I met with the Beloved Community Team of St Matthew’s, Browns Point. They are at the start of a project to move their racial justice and reconciliation work ahead. That work is being funded in part by a grant from the multicultural ministries budget.
Friday I hit road and went to Huston Camp and Conference Center. The Aspirants Retreat took place there on November 10-11. I was on the program with the Rev. Arienne Davison, Canon to the Ordinary, to talk about the orders of the church and life in the holy orders.
The week of November 13th began with me preaching two service at Emmanuel, Mercer Island. I had to bring my “A game” to be in the same pulpit as this year’s Bishop’s Preaching Award winner: the Rev. Elizabeth Riley, the rector of Emmanuel.
I also led a presentation on what is happening in Multicultural Ministries. It was another rich experience that also felt like the beginning of a larger conversation that many of our congregations want to have.
The rest of week was a little quiet. I had time to follow up on conversations and emails, to catch up on to do items, and read a little. This week I began reading Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment by Leticia Nieto (Contributor), Margot F. Boyer, Liz Goodwin, Garth R. Johnson, Laurel Collier Smith. So far it’s a good read.
