Wrapping Things Up & Stepping on the Plane

What an amazing journey the last 48 hours have been. We had our final Worship Team meeting on Thursday to deal with planning issues for this fall's new service. The energy and productivity of the meeting was through the roof! The group made several important decisions. The most important of which was arriving at both a name and mission statement for the worship gathering: God's time. We also talked about the importance of using the term "worship facilitators" as opposed to "worship leaders" to emphasize the approach team members should take in helping birth the worship experience. We even divvied up facilitator responsibilities for the worship gatherings between September 2 and November 4. I feel like the team is really getting the concept of the worship gatherings. I've been busy setting up visits with worship facilitators in Spokane, WA (where I'll begin my sabbatical). I've already got three visits lined up. Last night was very special in that the church had its "Sabbatical Send Off/40th Birthday Party" for me at the SAME Cafe downtown. What a great time it was! For those of you not familiar with the SAME Cafe, you can learn more about it by visiting their website (http://www.soallmayeat.org). The short description of the cafe is that it exists to ensure all individuals have access to a good, healthy meal. There are no menus or prices for the meals. Instead, individuals are asked to either donate whatever they feel is fair to cover the expenses of their meal, or donate an hour's worth of labor to cover the costs. What an amazing gift to the community. During my party, I smiled whenever people talked about my sabbatical experience as if it were a vacation. While there will be opportunities for travel and fun during my sabbatical, a HUGE chunk of the experienced will be focused "work" - I prefer the term "exploration" - on the issue of worship (i.e. reading, appointments, site vists, etc.). It will be so great to have the opportunity to focus my time and energy in primarily one area rather than be spread out in 100 directions simultaneously (the reality of most parish ministers on a day to day basis). This evening I step on the plane for Spokane. As I prepare to depart, I must say I'm thrilled you have joined me on my sabbatical journey!!! Til next time...