Attendance was just slightly on the soft side today. I suspect the intensity of Saturday's work day may have been a factor. More and more I'm itching to improve the signage outside. I'm eager to see Melana's latest plans on Tuesday. But I realized on Saturday that we could even put up some smaller flag poles jutting out diagonally from the building corners on the Avenue Road Side. We could hang the Anglican Church Flag and perhaps the Canadian Flag, etc. I can see brackets that once held flag poles, but like many things around COTM they have been neglected for many years.
No, I haven't forgotten about my desire the fix the flag pole on the top of the bell tower, but that's going to be a very big deal. Just rigging the safety line properly is going to take some careful effort. And once I get on top of the tower I have to haul up a ladder from the side of the building! I suppose a professional company would come in with a rented cherry picker, but I think the climbing approach is still okay as long as I find good hard points to attach my safety line. I also will need a spotter, of course. Anyway, it's still on my list of things to do.
In the mean time I need to see about getting those smaller poles installed. They need to be set up so that someone at ground level and raise a flag without a ladder. They would look good and they give a sense of activity. The new landscaping, BTW, is a huge improvement!
-t
Showing posts with label bell tower. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bell tower. Show all posts
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Friday, September 14, 2007
Look at my Ministry and Fear Me
Thanks to all of those concerned about my safety, but today I climbed most of the way to the top without encountering much risk. The first three stages of the ascent look and feel pretty safe. Essentially, the first two-stories are climbed by aluminum ladders which are wedged against the mortar work on platforms that are held in place by thick wood joists that run into the walls of the tower. They are also lashed in place to prevent them from slipping out of place should lateral forces of some kind come into play. The tallest of these (second stage) is about 20 feet. By the third or forth time I was feeling very confident about the security of the ladders. And even if I did fall it would just be to the platform below.
The third stage is a short (~10') wooden ladder made with 3"X5"'s and nailed together. It looks and feels solid, and I was aware that even if it did fail completely I only had a relatively short fall to the platform below. I got to the top of this third stage, but didn't go onto the platform since I couldn't fit through the opening in the platform with by backpack with cameras in it. Next time I'll take a rope with me and pull the bag up once I'm through. I could see, however, that the third stage is as far as it goes for internal ladders. From there a door leads out to the roof of the belltower. I don't know how you get from there to the parapet, perhaps you simply bring a ladder (or hoist one up from the ground along the outside of the tower). Anyway, the flag pole on the parapet is Phase II. Here are the pictures from Phase I....
Bell with the words "Sheldon Was Here 2003" written in black permanent marker.
(Andrew) Sheldon was the last Incumbent before me.
The third-stage wooden ladder with the platform above. The top of this ladder was as far as I cared to go today.
Doesn't that warm your Anglican heart? The flag pole on the very top will be the next to get fixed
Dave B. will be very pleased with this development....
-t
The third stage is a short (~10') wooden ladder made with 3"X5"'s and nailed together. It looks and feels solid, and I was aware that even if it did fail completely I only had a relatively short fall to the platform below. I got to the top of this third stage, but didn't go onto the platform since I couldn't fit through the opening in the platform with by backpack with cameras in it. Next time I'll take a rope with me and pull the bag up once I'm through. I could see, however, that the third stage is as far as it goes for internal ladders. From there a door leads out to the roof of the belltower. I don't know how you get from there to the parapet, perhaps you simply bring a ladder (or hoist one up from the ground along the outside of the tower). Anyway, the flag pole on the parapet is Phase II. Here are the pictures from Phase I....
(Andrew) Sheldon was the last Incumbent before me.
Dave B. will be very pleased with this development....
-t
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Finlandia
Matthew was playing the tune for "Finlandia" by Jean Sibelius a second ago. It's a hymn tune that really stirs my soul. We are singing it this Sunday.
This morning Megan and I went Belmont House to do a Eucharist service. We said a short version of the 1962 Mass downstairs in the chapel and then upstairs to a floor with folks with mental impairments to do an even shorter service of worship (complete with Don on peppy keyboard doing "Jesus Love Me" and other hymns familiar to an older generation). It was a really lovely experience. As I was riding down the elevator afterwards with Megan and Don I had to tell them what a luxury it was to have them with me to do this ministry.
Back at COTM we had a flurry of e-mails and phone about administrative matters. There has been a lot of stuff that was put on hold with the mantra "When the New Incumbent Comes" that is suddenly on my shoulders. So now we are moving on all sorts of fronts all at once. It does feel very satisfying, though, to feel like we are making rapid progress on getting stuff under control. We are evening starting to establish important pieces of the leadership infrastructure--not just regular staff meetings and other rituals of connection, but also deeper rhythms of trust and communication. As a result we are already outlining our creative liturgy plans between now and the end of December. It's a beautiful moment!
Speaking of staff meetings, we had a two hour one today--longer than is ideal, but necessary given all the stuff to be discussed and decided.
BTW, have I praised my most excellent ministry team today? They rock. Megan even brought cinnamon buns to the staff meeting!
Doesn't that look inviting? I climbed the first ladder today just to see what was up there--I saw several stages of aluminum ladders. They are all quite dusty, but the actual heights between stages looks entirely doable. I once climbed a truly scary ladder in the Holy Cross bell tower that had me suspended 25 feet or more on nailed-together 2"x4"s that kept springing up and down with every slight movement of my shivering body. Ain't ministry grand?
-t
This morning Megan and I went Belmont House to do a Eucharist service. We said a short version of the 1962 Mass downstairs in the chapel and then upstairs to a floor with folks with mental impairments to do an even shorter service of worship (complete with Don on peppy keyboard doing "Jesus Love Me" and other hymns familiar to an older generation). It was a really lovely experience. As I was riding down the elevator afterwards with Megan and Don I had to tell them what a luxury it was to have them with me to do this ministry.
Back at COTM we had a flurry of e-mails and phone about administrative matters. There has been a lot of stuff that was put on hold with the mantra "When the New Incumbent Comes" that is suddenly on my shoulders. So now we are moving on all sorts of fronts all at once. It does feel very satisfying, though, to feel like we are making rapid progress on getting stuff under control. We are evening starting to establish important pieces of the leadership infrastructure--not just regular staff meetings and other rituals of connection, but also deeper rhythms of trust and communication. As a result we are already outlining our creative liturgy plans between now and the end of December. It's a beautiful moment!
Speaking of staff meetings, we had a two hour one today--longer than is ideal, but necessary given all the stuff to be discussed and decided.
BTW, have I praised my most excellent ministry team today? They rock. Megan even brought cinnamon buns to the staff meeting!
Doesn't that look inviting? I climbed the first ladder today just to see what was up there--I saw several stages of aluminum ladders. They are all quite dusty, but the actual heights between stages looks entirely doable. I once climbed a truly scary ladder in the Holy Cross bell tower that had me suspended 25 feet or more on nailed-together 2"x4"s that kept springing up and down with every slight movement of my shivering body. Ain't ministry grand?
-t
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Staff Meeting
Megan (Pastoral Associate), the Parish Administrator, Barbara, and I had an informal Eucharist this morning. The intimacy of such a close quarters liturgy was quite nice, actually, and prayerful. This kind of "staff" Eucharist is likely to become a regular thing for us--really continuing a tradition of the parish that I inherited anyway. Also said Morning Prayer with the crew.
These kinds of intimate prayer moments are suddenly coming a lot to me. Last night I was at Bishop Colin's house for a meeting of young clergy and lay leaders. Because it rained, we ended up having much of our conversation in his living room. There weren't enough chairs, so many of us (including the Bishop and me) ended up sitting on the floor. By that time there was significant sharing of experiences going on and it felt wonderful. The bishop was clearly enjoying the moment as well, and ended the night by reading a passage of scripture, reflecting on it with us, leading us in the Lord's Prayer, and then blessing us. I'm sure these kinds of high-energy conversations about active ministry are much more satisfying to him than many of the things that fill his days.
This morning at church I was still feeling the buzz from that pleasant evening with burgers, ice cream, and ministry talk. No doubt it left me in the perfect frame of mind for all the team building that today involved. After Morning Prayer there was some e-mail and phone calls to deal with. Then Matthew (Director of Music) arrived and we went to lunch at the Pour House. That gave us a chance to tell some stories and enjoy each other's company.
After we got back, Megan joined us again and we had a marathon staff meeting. After we did some planning for upcoming events (including Friday morning's meeting of the Corporation) we did some brainstorming about projects and priorities for near and long term. Lots of great ideas made it onto the flip chart I was using. Some are going to have to wait a bit--others can be implemented easily. For example, our Cantor, Laura, is going to teach the kids some Taize music and then they are going to teach it to the congregation. We are also going to change the position of the organ console slightly and fix some light switches and start working two grant proposals and on and on and on.... Pretty soon it was 5.30 and time to wrap it up--but we all felt as though we had accomplished a great deal. I have a fantastic Ministry Team that is showing every sign of coming to a groove!
I still haven't climbed the belltower--but I will soon. First I have to make a trip to the hardware store so that I have some line to run up the flag pole once I do get up there. I'm also thinking that I should think about getting a safety harness so that I can climb the tower with some security. I'm told that the rungs are very far apart toward the top!
BTW, heard today that there is a rumor going around the parish that I'm only going to stick around for two years. It's untrue, of course, and may simply be based on speculation that I'll leave once Betsy's degree is finished. I suppose I wasn't clear enough in my sermon when I said, "This is my dream job." I should have said, "I'm not going to abandon you!" Anyway, I'm going to squash this rumor on Sunday with a friendly announcement about my intention to stick around for good long while.
Made more progress getting my office organized as well as the house (once I got home). Both are looking more and more like we want them. Really starting to feel at home, now...
Time for bed!
-t
These kinds of intimate prayer moments are suddenly coming a lot to me. Last night I was at Bishop Colin's house for a meeting of young clergy and lay leaders. Because it rained, we ended up having much of our conversation in his living room. There weren't enough chairs, so many of us (including the Bishop and me) ended up sitting on the floor. By that time there was significant sharing of experiences going on and it felt wonderful. The bishop was clearly enjoying the moment as well, and ended the night by reading a passage of scripture, reflecting on it with us, leading us in the Lord's Prayer, and then blessing us. I'm sure these kinds of high-energy conversations about active ministry are much more satisfying to him than many of the things that fill his days.
This morning at church I was still feeling the buzz from that pleasant evening with burgers, ice cream, and ministry talk. No doubt it left me in the perfect frame of mind for all the team building that today involved. After Morning Prayer there was some e-mail and phone calls to deal with. Then Matthew (Director of Music) arrived and we went to lunch at the Pour House. That gave us a chance to tell some stories and enjoy each other's company.
After we got back, Megan joined us again and we had a marathon staff meeting. After we did some planning for upcoming events (including Friday morning's meeting of the Corporation) we did some brainstorming about projects and priorities for near and long term. Lots of great ideas made it onto the flip chart I was using. Some are going to have to wait a bit--others can be implemented easily. For example, our Cantor, Laura, is going to teach the kids some Taize music and then they are going to teach it to the congregation. We are also going to change the position of the organ console slightly and fix some light switches and start working two grant proposals and on and on and on.... Pretty soon it was 5.30 and time to wrap it up--but we all felt as though we had accomplished a great deal. I have a fantastic Ministry Team that is showing every sign of coming to a groove!
I still haven't climbed the belltower--but I will soon. First I have to make a trip to the hardware store so that I have some line to run up the flag pole once I do get up there. I'm also thinking that I should think about getting a safety harness so that I can climb the tower with some security. I'm told that the rungs are very far apart toward the top!
BTW, heard today that there is a rumor going around the parish that I'm only going to stick around for two years. It's untrue, of course, and may simply be based on speculation that I'll leave once Betsy's degree is finished. I suppose I wasn't clear enough in my sermon when I said, "This is my dream job." I should have said, "I'm not going to abandon you!" Anyway, I'm going to squash this rumor on Sunday with a friendly announcement about my intention to stick around for good long while.
Made more progress getting my office organized as well as the house (once I got home). Both are looking more and more like we want them. Really starting to feel at home, now...
Time for bed!
-t
Friday, September 7, 2007
Administration
More settling in today. I'm getting my official keys to the kingdom of COTM. The Parish Administator has also promised to give me a tour of the building--I've never actually been taken around and shown all the nooks and crannies!
I'm still looking forward to climbing up the bell tower, though Peter (the Property Manager) tells me that I'll probably need a ladder to climb the flag pole and re-thread the lanyard if we want to actually use the flag pole again. I actually heard a story a few weeks back about a CEO who insisted on doing such a job himself of his company's new HQ--there is something wonderfully symbolic about putting the flag up yourself the first time--I never want to ask anyone else to do something I myself am unwilling to attempt.
It's worth noting, btw, that while I think some of the liturgical changes will happen rather slowly, there is a whole level of administrative organization that needs some TLC. I've discovered today, for instance, that the book keeper is not very happy with the software currently used for the financial management but that they didn't want to replace it until the new incumbent came. Now I've come and it's time to fix little things like that. The catchword in all this administrative stuff is "capacity for ministry." We want to create the conditions in which ministry thrives. That goes WAY beyond having fancy databases for tracking giving and doing mailing lists. I need to have things running smoothly enough that I'm not spending all day on Administrative tasks. Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency.
The best definition for the spiritual concept of "Leisure" is this: "Having enough time in the day for everything we put in it." Imagine: going to bed with the feeling that we've done everything we needed to do that day! Applied to incumbency, that means having things set up so that I'm able to do what needs to be done to keep the lights on and be able to do my visiting and planning and personal spiritual development. Matter of fact, that last item is probably the most important of all.
Wow, these are heady times!
-t
I'm still looking forward to climbing up the bell tower, though Peter (the Property Manager) tells me that I'll probably need a ladder to climb the flag pole and re-thread the lanyard if we want to actually use the flag pole again. I actually heard a story a few weeks back about a CEO who insisted on doing such a job himself of his company's new HQ--there is something wonderfully symbolic about putting the flag up yourself the first time--I never want to ask anyone else to do something I myself am unwilling to attempt.
It's worth noting, btw, that while I think some of the liturgical changes will happen rather slowly, there is a whole level of administrative organization that needs some TLC. I've discovered today, for instance, that the book keeper is not very happy with the software currently used for the financial management but that they didn't want to replace it until the new incumbent came. Now I've come and it's time to fix little things like that. The catchword in all this administrative stuff is "capacity for ministry." We want to create the conditions in which ministry thrives. That goes WAY beyond having fancy databases for tracking giving and doing mailing lists. I need to have things running smoothly enough that I'm not spending all day on Administrative tasks. Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency.
The best definition for the spiritual concept of "Leisure" is this: "Having enough time in the day for everything we put in it." Imagine: going to bed with the feeling that we've done everything we needed to do that day! Applied to incumbency, that means having things set up so that I'm able to do what needs to be done to keep the lights on and be able to do my visiting and planning and personal spiritual development. Matter of fact, that last item is probably the most important of all.
Wow, these are heady times!
-t
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