I’m happy to share “Digital Worship,” a podcast that I worked on for Wartburg Theological Seminary. These are important conversations about how we approach worship in these digital-bound days.
(Sorry I wasn’t able to embed the player directly in the post. Clicking the image will take you to the podcast, which is also available on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher.)
Vacation – Kate and I traveled to Calgary in Alberta, Canada during the month of June. We had a really wonderful trip. It was the perfect vacation for us. It had a really careful balance of hiking and getting lots of exercise, watching lots of TV, trying out the local food, and seeing the incomparable Banff National Park. There is not another place on earth like this. The weather was cool and we kept our jackets on most of the trip. One of the things that make a vacation complete for me is disconnecting from email. I was able to unplug my brain from all the normal things that grab my focus on a day to day basis.
Seminary – I completed my first year of school at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, IA. I am pursuing a Master of Divinity degree and am in candidacy for rostered Word and Sacrament ministry in the ELCA. I am not taking classes over the summer, which creates a nice break. My second year of school begins in September. This fall I’ll be taking courses in Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), Lutheran Confessions, 21st century leadership, and youth and family. One of the things that I am making a plan for is CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education). This requirement gives me about 400 hours of education and clinical work as a chaplain providing spiritual care for those in need. With my current trajectory, I should enter the internship phase of my training in February 2019. One of the brilliant things about the Collaborative Learning program that Wartburg offers is that I will be able to fulfill my internship right where I am at Faith in Bellaire.
Summer blessings to you…
I am returning home from a week spent at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. I am beginning the work of my Master of Divinity degree and the road to Word and Sacrament pastoral ministry in the ELCA. The week was beautiful, thoughtful, and helped me feel hopeful about the journey ahead.
One of the courses gave us a question to chew on: “If someone were to ask you to tell them about Jesus, what would you say?” The tricky part – you can only use 50 words to answer the question. Here was my response:
“I would say that Jesus was a man that lived in the ancient Near East approximately 2000 years ago and I believe that he lived, died, rose again, ascended to God, and is reconciling all things to God through the incarnational work of his body, the church, in the Spirit.”
Summer is here! Hopefully you are enjoying a slower pace and taking time to relax. It really is essential, I have found, to find seasons when you can deviate from the daily grind. Maybe you are able to take a nice vacation. For others it may mean an entirely different schedule than the school year that allows you to enjoy different things. My family will be headed to Galveston a couple of times to see friends, go to the beach, and maybe a little fishing.
Here is my vacation tip (one that I need to practice as well). If you are truly trying to have a vacation, leave the work behind, all of it. That may mean leaving a laptop at home, disconnecting your email app, or turning your phone off completely. The first day is weird. It feels like you left the oven on or forgot to close the garage. Once you get over that nagging feeling, it is freeing to feel undivided. You can fully be where you are and present to whom you’re with.
For me, and perhaps for you too, this is all about control. I like to live under the illusion that I’m in control of things. I am on top of what is happening and I know what needs to be done. I sense that things are going well when I’m in control. Staying connected to my work and people who might need me gives me control. And a vacation might be the most opportune time to let go of control and join God in a Sabbath.
Summer has become a busy time for me over the last several years – go figure. This summer is no different. In July I am headed to Toronto for a week to attend the annual conference of The Hymn Society. I’ll be presenting a workshop called, “Engaging Worship and Culture: (Re)Discovering the Nairobi Statement” and talking about the work I participated in creating a resource for the ELCA. In August I will host our fifth annual Tune Up Worship Band Gathering. This year it is being held at Messiah Lutheran Church in Cypress. Tune Up is a worthwhile event where church musicians from all over the area gather for training. The week after that I will be in Atlanta for the ELCA’s first Rostered Ministers Gathering. I will be presenting two workshops: “10 Ways to Use Video Technology in Worship” and “Curating Worship for a Cross-Cultural Context.” I will also be coordinating video technology for the event.
In September I will be headed to Dubuque, Iowa for my first weeklong intensive at Wartburg Theological Seminary. I am beginning my journey toward rostered Word and Sacrament ministry in the ELCA. I am very happy about these next steps in my calling to serve the church. Fortunately the Collaborative Learning program through Wartburg will allow me to stay at Faith Lutheran and complete my degree and internship without having to leave. I am currently enrolled in a Biblical Greek course over the summer! I am eager to learn and looking forward to more school!
Nothing too serious here – just some humor.
Above you see 2 pictures. These are both pictures from my student IDs from seminary.
The first picture was taken for my first ID during my orientation in January 2003. The second picture was taken for my second ID during my final semester in the Spring of 2006.
This is what 3 years of seminary looks like.
Picture #1 – youthful, happy, healthy, hopeful, promising, excited, enthusiastic, clean, well groomed, studious, eager
Picture #2 – aged, bloated, tired, unkempt, overweight, defeated, unshaven, disheveled, unhealthy, vagrant-like
I remember going into a profs office that last semester. The office assistant looked at me and said, “Who are you playing?” You see, Easter was approaching, and many of the music/worship seminary students were part of their church’s Easter productions. She assumed I must be playing Jesus, or at least one of the disciples by my appearance. I had to answer, “No one. This is just the way I look.”
ClaytonFaulkner.com 