“Dribs and Drabs” . . . words used by my mother to summarize the ingredients in the soup she made weekly from leftovers carefully preserved in the refrigerator. “Dribs and Drabs” . . . words she also used when conveying bits of news in letters to her mother. “Dribs and Drabs” . . . a suitable title for my ponderings on this St. Patrick’s Day.
Drib #1 . . . I was in Charleston yesterday (3/16) for our first Dean’s meeting with Bishop Edgar – having just been consecrated last Saturday (3/12) (
click here to see the glorious service), he is intent on quickly getting to know the people, places, programs and procedures that have positioned this diocese among those at the forefront of the Anglican Church in North America. Prior to his consecration, Jonathan invited “Chip” to spend several days with his family in this area resting and gaining a sense of our parish’s uniqueness . . . he commented in yesterday’s meeting that he was “blown away” by what the Holy Spirit is doing in and through us.
Drab #2 . . . It was my joy Tuesday (3/15) to spend some time with Eric Simba, a pastor and evangelist who has committed his life to serving the least and the littlest in the slums of Kenya. His ministry, Christian Best Camps (CBC) of Kenya, receives support from our Missions Committee (Simba spoke at the God’s Goods Celebration Sunday evening (3/13), thanking the volunteers for the fruit of their efforts; I first met him there). Children in an art class offered by CBC created the oil painting he presented to me, “Hand Helping Africa” – I plan to have it framed and displayed in my office. During our conversation, Simba spoke of the acute need for a well to provide clean drinking water in one of the impoverished areas he serves; thanks to the generous contributions made to Rector’s Discretionary Fund, he left with a check for the $6,000 required.
Drib #3 . . . while attending the Diocesan Convention in Charleston last Friday (3/11), I met briefly with Bishop Ken Clarke to thank him for his long partnership with this parish and for the Marriage Matters teaching he and his wife Helen offered us the previous Sunday evening (3/6).
(click here to view the teaching) Bishop Clarke hopes to bring a fifth group of lay and clergy leaders from Ireland to spend a week with us in the fall – by God’s grace, this opportunity for mutual blessing will become a reality.
Drab #4 . . . as conveyed last month in my 2021 Annual Report (2/24) (click here to view the report), we were hoping to have enough folks with the technical expertise needed to restart the 9:00am CrossPoint service on Palm Sunday and continue it with excellence thereafter – that threshold requirement has not been met. That said, the Lord has provided two fellows who will be joining us mid-summer to assist in this area and we will be interviewing a talented audio/visual production person next week to come on board in a few months to coordinate and maximize our media stewardship. Meanwhile, we will offer a special 9:00am CrossPoint Easter service on April 17th and delay the restart until such time as we sustain it with God-honoring excellence.
On the soccer field beyond my office window, Irish music is blaring and preschoolers dressed in various shades of green are engaged in Irish games – it’s quite a site . . . but alas, I dare not approach for I’m dressed in black and children take this pinching business seriously!
