Church in Mission

New Quarter, new classes. I'm taking a course in church in mission and part of our assignment is to reflect on class lectures and write about it. Church is a very integral part of my life and so I wanted to share a bit of what I learn with anyone who has some interest in this topic or what I came across the country to study in seminary.

As many of you know, I've had an extremely diverse church experience since leaving home. From roots in a small, rural, traditional Presbyterian church to college floating amongst different evangelical churches and then primarily a United Methodist Church, followed by a BIG nondenominational Christian church in Florida, and then experiencing Pentecostalism in the Assembly of God church in Burkina Faso, returning to the States and attending a Mennonite church on Capitol Hill in DC, heading to Ethiopia and learning about the Orthodox church there and seeing firsthand what "slain in the Spirit" looks like, going back to Florida and participating in a Vineyard church with a tight-knit community, to the present in southern California and finally making a commitment it a Four Square Church to be my place of worship during my time here. Yes, long sentence! The bottom line is, I like to challenge myself to meet Christ in many different atmospheres of worship. We're called to see God in others since each of us are made in His image, so this shouldn't only be in a formal church setting. Where 2 or 3 are gathered in His name, there can be church. Church is changing a lot around the world. Most services don't look like they did in our parent's generation. In some parts of the world, the practice of attending church can mean social suicide. In other regions the church is growing rapidly. So I look forward to thinking through this idea of church and learning more about the history and evolution of it. Follow along if you like!

Santa Barbara

Cruised up the coast to catch up with an old friend from CCSP New Zealand days. I hadn't seen Mike in nearly 5 years. We caught up in Santa Barbara where's he been hangin for the summer before going back to architecture school in Oregon.
Spent the day checking out a totally rad farmers market, followed by an epic visit to the Santa Barbara mission where the flowers were out of this world.
Closed the day out with a little surfing. I was pretty stoked to give this a go. The surf was not quite firing, but it was good for a beginner. Plus, I had the greatest instructor in the world. And I got up twice! Not bad, eh?

All in all, a super-fun day...except that Mike got some gnarly food poisoning so he was OOC (out of commission) most of the evening. Still, Mike's a legend and it was really great to see him. He was the first person I met from my study abroad group and I wasn't quite sure what to make of the surfer lingo...felt like I was going to need to go to language school for it at first. And now, look at me workin a few words in to the vocabulary!

Tour de Little People

Quarter #2 of my graduate career is complete! It was a love/hate relationship with summer intensive courses. I enjoyed focusing on one subject at a time, but found the discipline and motivation to work on assignments at a steady pace to be a challenge.

Summer culminated with a visit back east. I refer to this trip as the "tour de little people." I saw 13 little tots under the age of 2 1/2! Plus, 6 pregnant friends and cousins! One of them just delivered this past week - congratulations on the arrival of Abigail Faith, Carrie!!






The theme of babies continued as twin calves were born the day before I left...both female, which is rare. So they will stay and hopefully have a long life on Hendershot Farm.



And can't forget the little puppy, Lacy...a bundle of energy and fun, except when her chew toy involves your finger.



So that was my visit home in a nutshell. It was really great to be back on the Cove to breathe fresh air and drive my truck. I even managed to squeeze in canning a batch of salsa with the tomatoes Mom grew in the flower beds. Wish I could have had a couple extra days, but home will always be there.