Hi there, Ivan again.
I’ll be brief:
1. This week I got to lead the worship again, though I didn’t preach yet. But I already have some dates set that I’ll be preaching on.
2. On Tuesday we had another weekly pastor’s Bible study, but this one included a shared lunch and a short Eucharist service (in both English and Spanish!)
3. Today I had my third funeral since I got here. So I already nave enough of experience with that. But the great news is that I’ll be helping out with a baptism at Christ Lutheran church on 26th July, something which I never did by now. So I’m looking forward to that.
4. I got to do couple of visitations – in homes, hospitals, retirement homes. It was great seeing some of the people – and most actually remembered me! I also visited with brother Doug pastor Fial who served at st. Mark’s Lutheran church and was a missionary in Japan, so it was great hearing stories from his life.
5. I got my second mail since I came (I get more mail here than I do back in Europe). It was my nameday gift, which I am already eagerly reading (picture included down).
6. I went with brother Doug to a council meeting. He was invited to start the council with an invocation, which I found very interesting (a secular meeting being started with a prayer) – something I don’t think we do in our countries (correct me if I’m wrong). It was also interesting to see how a public forum works.
7. I also found out that my photo, together with my good friend Lidia’s, are published in a book about the history of st. Mark’s Lutheran Church from two years ago, when I was here.
8. Things with the Gettysburg seminary are being taken care of. I hope it all ends well. I have to choose my classes, so I’ve narrowed them down to 6 (I’ll probably take three classes). Feel free to help me decide which ones I should take:
a) Studies in the Epistles of the New Testament
b) Introduction to Theological Ethics
c) Early Church history and the Creeds
d) Luther and Augustine on Salvation, Truth, and Christian Life
e) Chance, Necessity, Love: A Pastoral Theology of Cancer
f) Preaching from the OT
So much from me for this week. And, as always, here are the pictures:
Recent Comments