Tay Moss - Ninja Priest

Flight Northwest 188

2009-12-16T13:49:00.004-05:00

Remember back in October when those two pilots overshot their destination airport by 150 miles? They were going from San Diego to Minneapolis and went out of contact with flight controllers for 77 minutes. Many were afraid the plane had been hijacked.

After the plane landed (safely) there was a great deal of speculation that the pilots had fallen asleep. The actual explanation is less interesting. They were distracted by their laptops! According to report just issued by the FAA, the two pilots had their laptops out and were trying to figure out a flight scheduling system that was new to the captain.

Mr. Cheney, 53, with 24 spotless years with the airline, and Mr. Cole, 54, who started flying at 14 and also had a spotless record, were going over Mr. Cheney’s schedule. Applying for a schedule under new computer procedures at Delta, the airline that acquired Northwest earlier in the year, Mr. Cheney had received a schedule that he did not like and that would have him at work for three additional days a month, the two men told investigators. They had both pulled out their laptops as Mr. Cole tried to help Mr. Cheney understand how to work the new system.

The documents contained a summary of interviews with Mr. Cheney and Mr. Cole, and added some fresh details. For example, the crew members reported hearing “radio chatter” but no calls for them; the reason, they told investigators, was that Mr. Cole had apparently tuned the radio to the frequency for an air traffic control center in Winnipeg, Manitoba. After the flight, investigators discovered that when a flight attendant used an on-board telephone to ask the pilots when the plane would be landing, the crew first spoke to the Winnipeg controllers. (source)

No recommendations for change, yet, but that will probably come. The New York Times, for instance, speculates that perhaps the Airbus A320 will a chime or other noise when text messages are sent to the aircraft.

Sadly, there have been a number of accidents caused by pilots being distracted. Most famously, perhaps, in the tragic crash of Easter Air Flight 401 in the Florida Everglades. Both pilots and the flight engineer were trying to troubleshoot a burned out landing gear indicator light and didn't notice that they had switched the autopilot mode to maintain pitch rather than maintain altitude. Then the pilot accidentally pushed the yoke forward and didn't notice the slow descent this caused.

The last words of the crew were these:

(1st Officer) Stockstill: We did something to the altitude.
(Captain) Loft: What?
Stockstill We're still at 2,000 feet, right?
Loft: Hey — what's happening here?

These days, pilots are trained in what's known as Cockpit Resource Management. The gist of which is: "One guy flies while the other guy fixes."

(As an interesting aside, there were numerous reported ghost sightings in planes that received salvaged parts from EA 401.)

-t

Just War Theory and Obama's Christian Realism

2009-12-16T13:32:00.003-05:00

David Brooks and others have been studying Obama's fascinating Nobel Peace Prize speech last week. It's a rousing defence of Just War Theory and the complexity of war and politics: "that war is sometimes necessary, and that war, at some level, is an expression of human folly." What can bring peace is not a change in human nature, but a "gradual evolution in human institutions" (paraphrasing JFK).

It's an amazing and thoughtful speech. Right up there with his speech on race during the campaign. It's nuanced and reflective and represents the heritage of Christian Just War Theory. Good stuff.

-t

The Fourth Paradigm

2009-12-16T12:32:00.003-05:00

There is some discussion in computer science and other fields of scientific inquiry about the so-called "Fourth Paradigm." Jim Gray, a Microsoft Researcher, coined the term to describe a major shift he saw coming in the way science is done. The first three paradigm shifts, in Dr. Gray's estimation, were the scientific revolutions characterized by experimental, theoretical, and computational methods. The new paradigm shift is towards methods that deal with the immense quantity of data being generated by a combination of inexpensive, prolific sensors, networks, and data storage. Scientists are swimming in data, and the future is about how to make sense of it.

Unfortunately, Dr. Gray died in a boating accident in 2007. However, a tribute to his work has recently been published. The Fourth Paradigm: Data-Intensive Scientific Discovery is a collection of essays on the topic. The promise of this new methodology is staggering. Simply put, it will become possible to solve problems that could not be solved in the past!

-t

Cooking While We Wait...

2009-12-14T22:53:00.005-05:00

Saturday and Sunday were intense. Saturday was the "greening of the church"--the day when we decorate the place for the last weeks of Advent and Christmas. And I had two small services, as well. That evening we went to a Christmas party of Betsy's department.

Then, on Sunday, we had a great concert in the afternoon. I was very proud of my congregation and especially the choir and Eric. A success. After the concert a bunch of went to the local pub and had a grand time. I came home and watched a little football before falling asleep.

Today I managed to get some grocery and Christmas shopping done--always with a careful eye on Betsy. So far, so good. She is experiencing some minor and irregular "Braxton-Hicks" contractions, but nothing to write home about, yet. Any moment, though....

While we wait... might as well cook! I've been thinking again about French cooking. Here's the recipe I made tonight after Betsy said, "I have this pork shoulder, but I don't know what to do with it."

Palette de porc à la bière
from Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook (thanks Meg and Seb)

Ingredients
4 to 6 lbs pork shoulder (bone in)
salt and pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
2 small onions (thinly sliced)
2 carrots (chopped)
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp. flour
1/4 Cup apple cider vinegar
12 oz. beer
1 Cup chicken stock (or broth)
4 tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 tbsp. bread crumbs (unseasoned and not toasted)

Equipment
large pot
tongs
plate
wooden spoon
baking sheet
small brush
cutting board
strainer
small saucepan
whisk

serves 4

Cook the Pork
Season the pork all over with salt and pepper. heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in the large pot over high heat. The add the butter. Let it foam, right? Like always. Is it hot? Okay. Lay the pork in the pot and cook over high heat for 5 minutes. Then roll the beast over using your tongs and cook for another 5 minutes on the other side. Nice and brown color on both sides? Remove the pork from the pan and set aside on the plate.

Take the pot off the heat, discard the blackened butter, and add 2 tablespoons of fresh oil. Now add the onions, carrots, and garlic in the pot. Cook over medium heat until soft and brown. Add the flour and stir well so it coats the vegitables, then cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the vinegar and beer, scraping up all the good stuff with the wooden spoon. Bring to a boil until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in the chicken stock or broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and return the pork to the pot, being sure to incorporate any juices from the meat. Reduce to a very low simmer, cover the pot, and let cook for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Make the Crust
Preheat the over to 450F/230C. Remove the pork from the pot and place on the baking sheet. Brush the meat evenly with 2 tablespoons of the mustard, then press bread crumbs into the mustard-covered surface of the meat. Place in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the crumbs form a firm, browned crust. Remove from the oven, and allow to rest on the cutting board for 5 minutes while you finish the sauce.

Finish the Sauce
Strain the cooking liquid into the small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes, then season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of mustard. Slice the meat and serve with sauce either on the side or poured around the slices.

Tay's Notes...
Above is how Anthony Bourdain writes this recipe. I would just add that it's important to get the temp right when you are initially browning the meat. Don't burn it! Also, this dish ends up being a bit drier and less "porky" then you'd expect--which is awesome. It carves nicely, but there isn't much sauce. Also, I think this recipe does better in a nice thick pot. Like cast-iron or perhaps a dutch oven.

Tomorrow, kiddie-permitting, I'm going to try Bourdain's Boeuf Bourguignon recipe. Seems simpler then Julia Child's version. I'll report back...

-t

Christmas Wishlist

2009-12-11T18:53:00.005-05:00

People have been asking what I want for Christmas (besides a baby)...

Slippers--for walking around the house
Humidor--I don't smoke a lot of cigars, hence the need to store the ones I've got for special occasions!
Shop-Vac
NFL merchandise (favourite teams: Saints, Patriots. Favourite players: Brett Favre, Troy Polamalu, Drew Breese)
Whiskey Stones
Whiskey (Kentucky Bourbon/Scotch/etc.)
Weather Monitoring station

But really, I'm just going to be thrilled to have a new baby at home!

-t

FEWG

2009-12-11T17:41:00.002-05:00

FEWG--The Fresh Expressions Working Group--is a Diocesan Committee that primarily is responsible for overseeing church planting in the Diocese of Toronto. That means both serving as gate-keepers to the money set aside to assist in setting up church plants (through the grant process and ultimately controlled by Diocesan Council), but even more importantly we companion on-going projects, think strategically about where God may be calling the Diocese next, and recruit and discern potential missional leaders.

I'm a very junior member of this committee and have only been to three meetings so far, but I have to say that I am extremely impressed with how they do business/ministry. I'm not sure I have been a part of a committee than has been more open to the work of the Holy Spirit. It is not uncommon for people to speak about how they think God has been active in the work they are talking about. And we speak quite a lot about how God's providence is working itself out in the Diocese of Toronto. It's a very "spiritual" sort of discussion that we have around that table. It's also quite down-to-earth nuts-and-bolts, too, but there is no contradiction there. I wish there was a way to share some stories from that committee because I think people throughout the Diocese would be encouraged both by the good news of what we are discovering in this process as well as by the amazingly holy way that the committee and the planters have gone about the work of building up the Kingdom. Very, very cool.

I also appreciate how fun these meetings are. Lots of laughing and joking around. They feed us lunch (sandwiches and pop), and we do a devotional time before the meeting starts in earnest. The Archbishop, Colin "Double-Cross" Johnson, joins us. (His nickname "double-cross" comes from the way he follows the tradition of putting two crosses in front of his name since he became Archbishop.) The meetings last about two hours.

A sign of a good meeting is that everyone leaves feeling even more excited about their work than when they entered. Something about getting a group of enthusiastic people together ought to create something between them that it is powerful and exhilarating, you know?

-t

More Security...

2009-12-09T22:36:00.003-05:00

We had so many security problems at the church that we finally decided a few months ago (even before I was punched) to install security cameras. That work was finished today. Fast forward to this evening, when I got a call from the alarm system monitoring station--they were showing a burglar alarm at the church that hadn't been reset. I get these calls every few weeks--usually it's a false alarm. Sometimes it's the real deal.

So I dutifully put on my coat and shoes and headed out the church at 8:30pm. When I arrived I found the cleaning crew. They told me that the alarm had been going off when they arrived. I didn't figure out why it hadn't given them the usual delay to give them the time to reactivate it, nor why the monitoring station couldn't see that it had been reset. I shrugged, said goodnight to the cleaners and came home.

I had just taken off my shoes and coat again when the cleaners called back. Someone was in the building. They had heard someone closing a door upstairs in the daycare and were seriously freaked out. The cleaners ran outside and called me.

So I went back down to the church. Odds are, this is someone left over from the AA meetings earlier in the evening that was looking for somewhere warm to stay. I carefully searched the whole church with my big Maglite. As best I can tell, the person was probably scared off by the cleaning staff and left out the back stairway.

I'll find out for sure tomorrow when I check the video footage from our fancy new security cameras!

-t

Advent Layout

2009-12-09T13:21:00.006-05:00

I've been talking a lot about the Advent layout. Here's some pics to give a better sense:

It may be hard to make out in these photos, but it's a U-shape with the Presider's chair and the ambo at the bottom, the altar in the middle, and a table at the top of the U with the tabernacle and menorah. A small Credence table is just in front of the ambo, which is flanked by a pair of candlesticks. The choir sits on either side of the top of the U, with the piano offset to one side. We're thinking this Sunday we are going to have the choir all on one side.

-t

CECE Update

2009-12-09T10:30:00.002-05:00

We had a very good meeting of the Centre for Excellence in Christian Education (CECE) project last night. Our Resource Library is really starting to take-off now that we have our first substantial grant ($10k from Area Council). Much excitement and joy as we move forward with various parts of the project!

-t

Denise and Tay

2009-12-07T22:59:00.001-05:00

Denise and Tay
Originally uploaded by taymoss@churchofthemessiah.ca

Soon I think our cats will be experiencing a downgrading of status...

X-Stroller

2009-12-07T14:19:00.000-05:00

Check out this concept for a new stroller. Yikes.

-t

US Air Force Acknowledges New Aircraft

2009-12-05T23:35:00.007-05:00

Little know fact, the United States Air Force spends more now on Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (such as Predator Drones) than on traditional, piloted aircraft. Of course, UAV's do, in fact, have pilots. It's just that the pilots fly the vehicles remotely from bases. There are a lot of advantages of this besides lowering the risk in operations over hostile territory. Without the weight of pilot, human interface (cockpit), or the life-support/survival equipment associated with pilots, these airplanes can have incredible range and time-over-target. If pilots become tired, no problem, they just get up and another pair takes their place in the command centre! The current (declassified) record for a single Predator flight is 40 hours and 5 minutes (source).

The existence of the "RQ-170 Sentinel" has just been declassified. It looks like a smaller version of a B-2 Bomber: flying wing with no tail. Few details have been released, but the aircraft is obviously designed to minimize radar signature. It is believed that it does not carry weapons (but that assumption is really just based on the RQ designation declassified by the Air Force). Aviation Week says that it is probably a "tactical, operations-oriented platform and not a strategic intelligence-gathering design" (source). But a lot bloggers point out features of the design that suggest an internal weapons bay.

I have a great story, incidentally, that an USAF officer told me about a Predator giving operational support during the invasion of Iraq. I don't think it's a classified story, but I'm not going to share it online. Suffice it to say that these things are amazing. I imagine that the new "Sentinel" has made major advancements over the late-90's-era Predator.

Capt Richard Koll, left, and Airman 1st Class Mike Eulo pilot a Predator UAV from a base in Iraq before handing control off to a team in the United States. The guy on the left flies while the one on the right operates sensors and weapons systems. (source)

-t

The "Crazy" Season

2009-12-05T17:26:00.003-05:00

Advent, the period leading up to Christmas, has a way of bringing out the crazy in people. In the past few weeks a number of situations in church-land and beyond have seemed to escalate in intensity and anxiety. Several people that I counsel or have pastoral charge of seem to be having a harder time than normal, and I really think it's because of the added pressure of this season. Between the holiday parties and gifts and church events and services, things are getting more crazy in every way.

For example.... A few days ago I was assaulted by a mentally ill person known to our community. I don't want to share too much on this for legal reasons, but it is something much on my mind, obviously. I got punched in the stomach while standing in the doorway to the church by someone because they thought, in their delusional state, that this was a good idea. I was actually talking to 911 at the time, and the police did come and arrest this person for assault. Luckily, my ample ninja-priest tummy has a near-magical ability to absorb punches, so I'm absolutely fine. The person that hit me was not very strong. The last (and only other) time I was assaulted was in Los Angeles when I did social work, and I could write a whole set of "lessons learned" from both occurrences.

So... the precautions we take at the church to lock doors and install video cameras may seem excessive for some, but then something like this happens and we all realize that due vigilance is required, especially for those of us in urban ministry. As this story has gotten out, a LOT of my colleagues have shared similar incidents. One guy I know was chased out of St. Thomas' by a mentally disturbed person. It can happen to any of us, at any time.

The police are handling it and I suspect this person will be re-institutionalized, which is the best thing for it. I just wish that we had a better way to help the severely mentally ill than the criminal justice system. It's a shame that we've criminalized mental illness.

What concerns me now, however, is the way that this "craziness" fits a December pattern. I know a lot of other people that find this time of year very, very difficult. I, myself, find it difficult to maintain a positive attitude when I worry about the church deficit or certain parishioners that are having a hard time coping right now.

And yet there is a lot to be positive about. We recently had five new people join the church. Next week I'm going to expand the Contemplative Eucharists to Saturdays. The Women's Bible Study is flourishing. I'm thinking of starting some kind of house church event. I think most people in the parish are extremely happy with the way ministry is happening here. So why is my soul troubled?

I've wondered whether this is displaced anxiety from my coming fatherhood. Yet I was similarly anxious last December, so maybe not. And when I think of the baby I'm mostly excited. I get a lot of prayer and meditation these days, but what I experience are strong feelings of concern and love that ache with something close to nostalgia or regret, not joy and elation (as I have felt at other times). All I have to do is attend to my feelings at the Contemplative Eucharist on Wednesdays or the Healing Prayer service on Saturdays and there IT is--that feeling of December anxiousness.

The Advent Prose (Rorate Coeli) resonate remarkably well with it. We've been singing a modern English translation in place of the Gloria/Kyrie on Sundays. It's a searching, longing melody that just aches with desire for the fulfilment of God's Advent promise. "Pour down, O heavens, from above, and let the skies rain down righteousness." It's a haunting musical/liturgical meditation on the hope of the prophets. Perfect for the crazy season upon us.

-t

Sermon - Advent 1 2009

2009-12-04T21:50:00.000-05:00

Doug Clark, our Intern, preached this sermon on the first Sunday of Advent. He was deeply troubled by the movie "2012" and the hype surrounding it and decided that he needed to offer a pastoral response through this sermon.

Here's the audio...

Here's a direct link to the MP3 file...

-t

Sermon - Reign of Christ 2009

2009-12-03T17:46:00.003-05:00

On Reign of Christ Sunday (the last Sunday after Pentecost), we had a baptism at the church. I preached this sermon with that, and the Kingship of Christ, very much in mind. Enjoy...

Here's the audio...

Here's a direct link to the MP3 file...

-t

Facebook Profiles turn out to be Accurate...

2009-12-02T16:18:00.002-05:00

It's well known that people lie about themselves when they create on-line profiles for things like dating sites. Turns out, however, that Facebook is different...

[W]hen University of Texas researchers began studying Facebook friends, they expected that users also would exaggerate accomplishments and offer an enhanced version of themselves. To their surprise, they discovered that Facebook profiles typically gave an accurate and realistic impression of the user’s real-life personality. (source)

In this sense, Facebook is used more as a normal communications tool rather than as a means of self-promotion. How about that?

-t

Our Lady of Guadalupe

2009-12-02T13:04:00.003-05:00

Probably the most important pilgrimage site in the Americas, the Our Lady of Guadalupe shrine in Mexico City is an incredible place. I've been there twice and have been incredibly moved both times by the pure devotion, warmth, and affection of the pilgrims there. Definitely something you don't want to miss if you are ever in D.F. (Mexico City).

Doug C. sent me this video of the crowds singing "Happy Birthday" to this patron saint of Mexico.

-t

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

2009-12-01T20:24:00.002-05:00

One of the best ways to work of stress, I find, is good video game. My favourite genre are so called "First Person Shooters." This genre of twitch-gaming is one of the most action-packed, violent, and challenging types of gaming experience. It rewards fast, accurate reactions that take practice to develop. One of the newest such games is "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2." I've been playing recently and have to say it's a cinematic, exciting, and immersive experience. In it, you take the part of several different special ops soldiers tasked with a wide variety of missions. In one mission you have to capture an arms dealer fleeing through a Brazilian Flavela slum teaming with angry militia. In another, you have to escape on foot after your convoy in Iraq is ambushed. One minute you are directly airstrikes from a Predator drone and in another you are sneaking past Russian dog patrols in a pine forrest. Thrilling, thrilling stuff.

-t

Ice Pilots NWT

2009-11-30T18:35:00.000-05:00

My new favourite show is "Ice Pilots: NWT" on the history channel. It's a reality TV show about a small airline (Buffalo Air) in the Canadian North that keeps some very remote villages and towns supplied. These are the sorts of places that are only reachable by road three months of the year! One of the things that makes Buffalo Air unique is that they rely mostly on piston-powered airplanes, many of WWII vintage. We're talking PBY's, C-46's, DC-3/C-47's, C-54's. The extreme cold, poor weather, rough runways, and short hauls make these tough, un-pressurized propeller aircraft ideal.

Good times for you aviation buffs out there!

-t

DJ Spooky: Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica

2009-11-29T18:12:00.003-05:00

DJ Spooky is an amazing musician and composer with a very sensitive ear. He wrote a piece called Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica after visiting Antarctica. I heard an interview with him on NPR in which he impressed me with his depth of craft and engagement. You might get a sense of what I mean from this clip from Sinfonia Antarctica....

-t

Complexity

2009-11-29T13:50:00.000-05:00

A complex and challenging day at church today. It was the Daycare's 30th Anniversary, so we celebrated by inviting all the parents and having special refreshments. We were supposed to have a bouncy castle, as well, but they never showed. I know that both the Daycare Manager and the President of the Daycare Board spoke to the bouncy-castle company, so I'm at a loss to explain the no-show. Ah well, I still called up the Daycare Staff and blessed them and thanked them for their work.

Another complicating factor today was a new liturgical arrangement. The chairs we arranged in a kind of U configuration. The bottom of the "U" included the Presider's Chair. Just in font on that (heading "liturgically East") was the Ambo (lectern). In font of that was a small Credence Table. In the centre of the assembly stood a square altar with a minimum of hardware. At the top of the U stood another square table with the tabernacle, icon, and menorah. The purpose of the Menorah is to make a nod towards the Jewish heritage that we share with our Abrahamic brethren.

We also changed the music all around, substituting a modern translation of the Advent Prose for the Gloria and changing the Lord's Prayer and the Sanctus and other bits and pieces.

All in all, it went quite well. I just wish I could have spent some more time exploring the reasoning and implications of this set-up with the congregation. Alas, there was way too much going on today to do much of that. Just as well, liturgy should really be able to stand on its own without a frame.

There were a dozen or more visitors, which was great to see, plus the usual Messiah crowd. So attendance was up today. I really try not to let the attendance matter too much, as it is one of the surest ways to make yourself insane as a pastor, but it's hard not to notice.

Short meeting with two of the Wardens after church (the other is out of town) to discuss various matters, some of which weigh heavily on my mind when I allow them. Right now, heading into Christmas, is one of the most stressful times of the year for most priests and ministers I know. This is a tough job, and I'm uncertain that most people understand why. Any one piece of it--the pastoral care, preaching and liturgy, administration, strategic planning/ops, dilegent study of "such matters as promote the spreading of the Gospel"--could easily be a full-time responsibility. It's the breadth of the responsibilities which is the hardest part to deal with!

Anyway, 'nough complaining. I've got some important recreation to do now! If I don't get some serious football time in, I'll be useless on Tuesday.

-t

Thanksgiving Fragments

2009-11-26T13:21:00.003-05:00

This morning I said Mass at Trinity Chapel, which is always a little liturgical treat. It's a pretty straight-forward BAS Modern-Rite Holy Eucharist. Interestingly, they have an organist so we can sing a hymn and some of the service music. This would be a great place to do some paperless singing sometime.

After that I've been running from one thing to the next. Not crushingly hectic, but busy. I assembled the second Ikea table that we'll be using for the Advent Liturgy configuration. I also showed some architecture students around the place (every year or so a group of students are tasked with writing a paper about the place for an Architecture course at George Brown). Meanwhile, our cleaners are stripping and waxing the Nave floor. The Yoga folks have been complaining about how dirty the floor has been lately, and this is apparently due to the need for a stripping and rewaxing of the floor--precisely the kind of detail one learns about in the exciting field of Parish Administration!

It's been a season for minor repairs and upgrades to the building. Yesterday Bell fixed a phone line and the roofers took a look at their project. The organ tuners also did their work. Next week the electrician will come by to install another exterior light for the playground. Soon the security camera people will come and install some interior cameras. And we have an appointment with the church handyman to install a new doorbell! Amazing how quickly these kinds of projects accumulate!

Yesterday we had an excellent meeting of the Christ-Centred Character Group. Our Resource Centre continues to take shape. Recently we've made the decision to change the name to "Centre for Excellence in Christian Education." Concerns were expressed about using "Anglican Resource Centre," you see. Right now we are still waiting on some grant requests we've submitted, but I remain optimistic that we'll get some money and be able to roll it out this winter. We've already been able to lend out a few materials here and there.
Behold: Turducken!

For Thanksgiving this year we'll going out with some friends to a restaurant that specializes in southern cuisine. I'm anxious to try Turducken for the first time. Imagine a Turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken! Some people even add a quail inside the chicken and possibly a hardboiled egg in the centre. They also advertised a gravy made with bourbon and Grand Marnier. Yumm!

This year I'm thankful most of all for Betsy and our soon-to-come son. Bringing new life into the world turns out to be fulfilling to the extreme. It's neat to see how it has shifted Betsy and my relationship in positive ways and how I'm already beginning to think differently about many things. I think I'm becoming a father....

-t

Synod

2009-11-25T09:55:00.005-05:00

Michael Hudson took this picture of me (and Claire Goodrich Dyer) voting at Synod last weekend. The Synod was fairly short (just the morning), but important. There were several key votes, all of which passed nearly unanimously with only small amendments. One of the things we did was vote through some important changes to the Canons designed to give more flexibility to the Diocese. We also cleaned up some canons to modernize the language a bit. We also approved plans and priorities documents that will be implemented in policies.

Today they (Diocesan Staff) will be counting the votes from the election. My name was on the ballot to be a rep to national synod, but there were a LOT of names of that ballot. I would be proud to have most of them represent me, so if I don't get elected I'll be content. We'll see!

For me the best part of synods (including this one) is seeing lots of my colleagues and talking shop. It's a place to touch base and share ideas and hatch hair-brained schemes!

-t

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

2009-11-24T20:26:00.001-05:00

Music That Makes Community: Khudaya rahem kar (Kyrie)

2009-11-23T12:54:00.000-05:00

Scott Weidler taught the Music That Makes Community: Atlanta group this haunting Kyrie in Urdu. I find the melody wonderfully haunting--the sort of thing that can be hard to get out of your head once you start singing it.

-t