5 Days And Counting

Once I finished moving into my new office, I figured I would spend the bulk of the day working on the web site. Then I discovered that our Tech Support Specialist is on vacation this week. That means that not only is there one less person to assist with moving content to the new web site, we had one less person to prepare boxes for shipping to Anaheim. So much for working on the web site.

In order to pack my box, I first had to take apart my giant General Convention notebook. I realized that there are some things I do want hard copies of, but I don't need the 4" binder. I ended up with a 2" binder, which will make a big difference space-wise in my rolling catalog case. I went through my "portable office" to make sure it has working pens, new Post-It pads, etc.

The boxes are almost ready. We're waiting for the delivery of some buttons, so we'll ship them out tomorrow. Since we have another day, I'll bring a couple of other things from home to go in my box. Of course, "my" box also has some of Angie's materials and some of Ruth-Ann's. Shipping them tomorrow should put them at our hotel in Anaheim on Friday.

At home I have growing piles of things to pack.

Maybe tomorrow I'll get to the web site...

Peace,
Jeff

I Have An Office

After 15 months, and thee months after our promotion to full Associate Program Officers, the APO Trainees have offices. Well, three of us have offices. One of us chose to stay in a cubicle, because it is by the window. It's also out of the main traffic pattern, which works well for her. The other three of us needed to be out of our cubicles. In the Church Center's corporate culture cubicles are administrative spaces. Being in offices will reinforce that we are no longer administrative employees. We are program staff.

I will still have administrative duties, one of the pitfalls of carrying more administrative knowledge than both of our Technical Support Specialists (administrative assistants, in spite of the techie title). I had to clear the "empty" office of accumulated files that the new Program Officer for Lifelong Formation and Youth needs to go through, files for archiving, and stuff to throw out. I did that piecemeal over the first part of last week and then moved my stuff in. MIS was supposed to move our computers and phones on Friday, but that didn't happen until this morning. I spent time Friday afternoon and this morning reorganizing my files as I put them in my new file drawers.

So, if you stand in the door of my office--my fifth workspace during my seven years at the Church Center--this is what you see as you scan from right to left:

Obviously, I have more shelves than stuff to put on them.


Less bulletin board space than in cubicles, so I'll need to rethink what gets posted on what space there is. The cabinets hold some supplies and information binders.

I also have more wall space than art work to put on it. What you see in this picture are two pictures I took during my summer in Germany as an exchange student and my Education for Ministry diploma. I'm looking for a poster of Harold and the Purple Crayon and also for a print of one of Monet's paintings of the Rouen Cathedral.


And if I had more shelf space than I needed with one set of shelves, I have two. Note the bottom shelf of each bookcase, you will see things that children can play with and books they can read. I may not have many children visiting, but after all, I am the Associate Program Officer for Children's Formation. Also, take a look at the second shelf from the top. Until I figure out a better way, that's where I've displayed my crosses.

To the left of the second bookcase is an open corner. The facilities coordinator is looking for a "visitor's chair" for me, and I'm looking for some sort of a small table. A couple of people have pointed me to Overstock.com.

Peace,
Jeff

The Drew And Jack Show

Canon Jack Spaeth and Bishop Drew Smith arrived this afternoon to meet with members of our parish. They spoke about "Six Parishes in the Diocese of Connecticut We've Come to Know and Love." And, of course, they spoke with us about the future of Grace Episcopal Church in Norwalk, Connecticut.

I saw people today I have not seen in years, and some people I never saw before in my life. They came because they were asked to come to this important meeting about our future. I have mixed feelings about people who have checked out of the parish having a voice in determining the future of our parish. On the other hand, some of the folks I see every Sunday have pretty much checked out when it comes to dealing with the reality that is Grace Episcopal Church.

We set a deadline of March 31, 2010 to have some sort of plan in place in regards to our future as a community. We can only do this if everyone--or at least a great majority--in the parish participate in the discernment process. Will the folks who have already checked out participate? Will they simply ignore it, as many of them have ignored reality so far? Will they create enough dissent within the community to undo any decision made by the ones who actually take the time and energy to do the discernment work? Frankly, I'm not prepared to be "held hostage" by non-participants.

There are some exciting things on the horizon for Grace Episcopal Church. I look forward to doing the discernment work.

The next nine months should be an interesting roller coaster ride.

Peace,
Jeff

Girl's Best Friend

Here's Suzanne Guthrie singing "The Prayer Book Is A Girl's Best Friend." Do watch the credits!



Here is what she writes about herself on her blog Come to the Garden:

Suzanne Guthrie is an Episcopal priest, the author of Praying the Hours and Grace's Window, retreat leader, former university chaplain and mother of four grown children. Besides serving as the chaplain of The Melrose School, Suzanne's current project includes "a kind of visual and thematic itinerary of the interior life" for beginners of all ages.You can see the progress of that work at http://www.edgeofenclosure.org.

I have both of Suzanne's books, which she signed for me when we were both involved with the Will Our Faith Have Children conference back in 2003.

Peace,
Jeff

12 Days And Counting

I don't know how I'm going to get it all done. The web site migration is going a lot slower than we'd like, but there isn't much I can do about the speed of the Evangelism & Congregational Life pages when I'm the primary person putting time in. Hopefully, I'll have at least the basics up for each office by the time I leave for General Convention. The beta test of the new design will take place at General Convention--several weeks behind schedule, but maybe a better way to do the test.

I continue to add events, meetings, and appointments to my schedule. Fortunately for Ruth-Ann and me, we have someone to be our "shepherd" for the duration of Convention. MerLynne will keep our schedules updated and help us track legislation. I've decided to make a daily schedule for myself and have adapted the Pocket Mod. It gives me a pocket-sized folder with all the important information for the day and space to take notes. In spite of the web site's claims, these have been around for years--we used to make them in school when I was a kid. But the site did remind me of them. I designed a template in PowerPoint that I use for travel itineraries and adapted for the daily schedule.

Technology will make things a bit easier this convention. Rather than toting around a large three-ring notebook with printed copies of all the information I need, I will copy all of the files from the G drive at work to a flash drive and use my notebook computer. On the other hand, I'll still have the gigantic General Convention Binder. Even though all the legislative information will be online, it is still easier to track changes to the resolutions by reading printed copies. We'll see how that goes.

I've asked Mom if I can borrow her big black suitcase to take to General Convention. I thought about shipping my clothing via UPS, which is probably cheaper than checking a bag on US Air, but I don't have enough clothes to ship two weeks' worth ahead and have a week's worth to wear before we depart for Anaheim. I'll still be shipping a box or two with non-clothing items, so I need to start taking things into the office to be packed. We must ship boxes going to the hotel (as opposed to the Exhibit Hall) next Monday.

I have a list...

I have lots of lists...

Peace,
Jeff

21st Century Birds And Bees

Go read A Birth Story - Daddy, How was I Born? over on Grandmere Mimi's Wounded Bird.

Grandmere Mimi is one of my favorite bloggers. Once when the Mad Priest asked his readers over at OCICBW which celebrities they would like to be adopted by, I posted "Elizabeth Kaeton and Grandmere Mimi."

Now go read Grandmere's blog.

Peace,
Jeff

A Birthday Excursion

As has become the custom of one group of friends for each others' birthdays, we drove off with Rachel for parts unknown. Well, unknown to her. Even when we exited I-95 in Essex, she didn't have a clue. Not until we pulled into the parking lot of the Essex Steam Train. Lisa, Mike, and I hadn't been on the train in years. Rachel never had.


We had to park in the secondary lot where we found a number of classic cars. A local car club outing was taking the same train, so by the time we reached the ticket office, we had a choice of seats in the open car right behind the engine for $3 added fare, or seats in the Parlor Car for $5. We chose the Parlor Car.


During our planning for today, Lisa, Mike and I decided to skip the riverboat combination trip on the Connecticut River, which turned out to be a good choice given the weather today.


After the train ride, we drove into downtown Essex and walked around, stopping in shops here and there as they struck our fancy. Essex is an old river town which managed to preserve managed to preserve many of its historic buildings. We walked down to the river front and watched the Connecticut River Museum's boat set sail.


Next stop was the Saybrook Country Barn to look at the various things they have to offer for the home. Until we started to get hungry and headed off to Westbrook Lobster in Clinton. I wasn't sure what to expect when we pulled into the parking lot, and less so when we walked into the dining room. We were more than pleasantly surprised. The food was excellent. All of us ate entirely too much.

In order to walk off dinner, we went to Ikea in New Haven. Lisa and Mike recently moved into their first house, so there were some things they wanted to check out. Rachel and I both enjoy wandering around the Scandinavian Superstore. We saw a couple of displays set up as small apartments and creatively furnished --one was 277 square feet. I also found a chair that I really like but have no room for in my current apartment. Someday...

Next birthdays? Mike's and Lisa's in July (AFTER I get back from General Convention!).

Peace,
Jeff

17 Days And Counting

In just over two weeks--on July 4th, to be exact--I fly to the Orange County John Wayne Airport to spend two weeks in Anaheim, California. No, I will not be spending two weeks at Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, or any of the other tourist attractions. I will be spending two weeks ensconced in the Anaheim Convention Center, the Anaheim Hilton, and the Anaheim Hyatt. Why? The 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church takes place in Anaheim July 8–17.

Why am I flying out on July 4th, four days early? As the Associate Program Officer for Children's Formation, I will be participating in the set up of the Children's and Infants' & Toddler's Programs in the Hyatt as well as the Discovery Center in the Convention Exhibit Hall. For the first time since we began the Children's program, it will actually be located on site, rather than in a local church six blocks or a mile away from the convention center. Of course, this poses new issues and challenges, including coping with hotel catering prices and policies regarding the bringing in of outside food and beverages.

This is the third General Convention I will attend, and it will be the first I attend as program staff. That means attending the meetings of the Education Legislative Committee as a resource for the committee members and tracking pieces of legislation (resolutions) affecting the Formation offices of the Church Center as they make their way through the legislative process. Along with resolutions pertaining to education and formation issues, I will also be tracking resolutions that affect lbgtq people, because we have no official office at the Church Center. There are over a dozen dealing with Resolution 2006-B003 (the infamous "Manner of Life" resolution) and an almost equal number dealing with same sex marriage.

And why am I staying an extra day? Because on the 18th the Diocese of Los Angeles committee that is doing most of the work on the Children's Program is planning a day at Disneyland.

Peace,
Jeff

I Have A Purple Crayon

A couple of months ago several of us attended a writing workshop as part of the process of redesigning the Episcopal Church Center Program Groups' web pages. The instructors placed boxes of crayons on each table and asked each of us to choose one to use in marking up samples of the text on our current web pages. As the Associate Program Officer for Children's Formation, I chose the purple crayon from the box. My colleague Ruth-Ann caught the reference immediately.

I have been pondering Harold and his purple crayon since then. When Harold finds he needs something, he draws it. Once he draws it, he immerses himself in it, and sometimes it doesn't go as he planned. But he never stops drawing, never stops doing.

I want to be more like Harold. He creates, lives in that creation, and continues to engage that creation when it takes on a life of its own. What would it be like to live as Harold does?

What would it look like if a community chose to live as Harold does?

What if I could say:

I have a purple crayon, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Peace,
Jeff