That's Absurd

This was my sermon from 9/21 at University Presbyterian Church in Austin, TX. The text was Matthew 20:1-16, the Laborers in the Vineyard, and the title was "How Absurd." The title that I ended up with on my manuscript and that I liked better was "That's Absurd."

It was my only chance to preach from this pulpit and I think I did a pretty good job. I'll let you all judge for yourself. This was also the day that UPC celebrated Theological Education Sunday so my seminary president also brought greetings to the congregation earlier in the service. Kaci filmed this from the front row, so it's almost like you are there. Overall, I got some pretty good feedback on the sermon from both the congregation members and from the two pastors who are my supervisors.

Summer Pictures!!

Look to the left, we put pictures up from this past summer. You can click on the pictures to enlarge them. 

New Sculpture, New Job, New Ideas

One of the very cool things about APTS is the fact that we have an artist in residence, C.D. Weaver. C.D. is a retired pastor and former faculty member here. After retiring from active ministry C.D. learned metal working and began his second career as an artist. All over our campus are pieces that he has created and added to the seminary collection. This is his latest piece that he brought in on Friday. I helped him move it into position and talked with him about it for a couple minutes. He and I were both very excited about the possible uses the sculpture could have in a worship/ministry setting. He said you could place a large bowl in the center as a baptismal font, use the center to hold the fire for the Easter Vigil, or use a very large diameter candle as the Paschal Candle, plus many more ideas.

One of the things that really excites me about this sculpture is the fact that it shows how people can add to the worship experience without preaching, or singing, or playing the piano. All of those traditional ways of leading and adding to the worship experience are great and useful (I hope preaching is useful) but they limit so many people that would like to give their gifts for worship.

This year I've begun a new job on campus, Chapel Beadle. Most of my duties center around worship and making sure the chapel is in decent order. This year I also put together the signup sheet for chapel worship.  I added places for students to volunteer to bake communion bread and contribute graphic art and contribute in other ways. I'm excited about the ways that students (and student's spouses and family members) can contribute to worship.

I'm excited about the new semester in general and all of the new opportunities that are before me; Student Senate, our trip to Israel & Egypt, my work at University Presbyterian, and the Company of New Pastors, plus all my classes (or at least some of my classes). But I'll have more time to talk about all those later, right now I have to assign chapel teams and encourage students to find new ways to contribute to worship.

First Week of School!!!!

Just to give everyone an update. Matthew has been helping out with orientation the past week, which he enjoyed. This is something he is required to do since he is on Student Senate this year. Over the weekend we decided we both needed some time to relax after ordination exams. So we took many naps over the weekend and caught up on our tv shows that we have had on dvr. We went to the outlet malls on Monday to get Matthew his "first day" shirt and ended up getting him two outfits and a new pair of tennis shoes. He looked very nice for his first day...........and no Sherry I did not take a  picture of his "last first day." He seemed to be a little discourged with one of his classes and excited with the other class. I dont think we have a lot planned for the next week since I am working Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I am off on Saturday and Sunday then I go back on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. At work we have had a steady increase in patients. So I am trying to prepare myself for one more winter in a children's emergency room!!!! Hopefully the flu will not hit as hard as it did last year. Well I think that is all I have for now, I will update everyone when we have something to update you about. Love to all!!!!! 

The Beginning

We started this blog in an attempt to keep all the family and friends updated on what's going on here in Austin. Matthew is starting his final year in seminary and things are going to be crazy this year. Matthew is in the middle of Ordination exams right now. He took part of the test on Friday and Saturday and now has a HUGE paper to complete by Thursday. So everyone please keep him in your prayers. Since this is our last year here we thought about having one of the holidays here in Austin. Thanksgiving seems to be the best idea with two large families. We are also planning a couple of big trips this year if all goes as planned. In January we would like to go with the seminary to Israel and Egypt, and Florida in March with some friends. After we get back from Florida we will start preparing for Matthew's graduation in May. So there you have it! We hope to keep everyone updated and this is a good way to also show some pics of the trips and life here in Austin.