Pictures of London the Second!

My new German friends and me at the Time
For God Conference

Julian, Father Nicholas, and Liz

St. Michael's Church with it's new roof!

St. Paul's Church

Me on top of the world at Alexandra's Palace

Pictures of London!

Me and Big Ben!

Amanda and I goofing around infront of the Parliment Building

The National Gallery

Camden Town!

The Markets

My house!

Communication and Lessons of being an American

This week I attended a Time For God Conference in Muswell Hill- a section of London about 30 minutes from Camden. Time for God is the organization that the ELCA sent me through in the United States. Time for God is actually responsible directly for my placement in the UK.

There were 20 volunteers at this prep conference and I was the ONLY American and the ONLY one who didn't have English as a second language. The group was quite diverse as there were people from South Korea, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Sweeden. When I first arrived and saw that everyone was getting into their "country language" groups, I thought it was going to be a very long and lonely week. However, I made a promise to myself that I was not going to shut down and be by myself. I was going to make every effort possible to engage everyone and not let language and culture differences seperate me from the rest of the group.

At first, people poked fun at my American accent and laughed at my "high fives" which all seemed to fall into the general stereotype of how Americans interact with each other. Although people were very nice, it was quite obvious that they had their ideas about what American's were like. I decided that I would try and break those stereotypes by joining the group in going to a local pub. With my presence, it forced everyone to speak English which went over better with some than others. However, this sentiment soon changed as we got into an amazing discussion about country stereotypes. I got a full description as to what multiple countries think of America. Perhaps the most striking aspect was everyone's agreement that American's always get what they want and never stop to ask questions as to what other people need. (This concept was brought out further a day later by a simple conference group game. Everyone wanted to be on my team! Ironically- my team won. Maybe this says somthing)It, infact suprised many of the volunteers that I was even curious and asking questions about their home countries.

The night at the Pub ended with an incredible conversation about homesickness. It took place between 2 Hungarians, a South Korean, a German, an Italian, and an American! It all of a sudden bridged different worlds together for me. Here I am coming from a context that is different from many of these other people, but the reason that I am sacrificing many elements for a year- a comfortable environment, family, girlfriend, close friends etc. is remarkably the same to the others. All of us are looking for who we are and who God is in the world. All of us are driven by a passion that there can be understanding and respect for things that are different. All of us are here to learn as well as help.

And so I learned that I am not alone in this whole thing. Sure, there is God and the ever deepening and challenging of my faith. But, there are also people that are different from me who want to be challenged and grow like me. There are strangers out there that you might pass by thinking that it is too hard to connect. But if you just let yourself be open to possibilities and give a little bit of time. Strangers can become amazing friends.

Comissioning, Ordination, and the Churches I am a part of

This week has been one of intense culture and church learning as I continue my involvment in this parish. Owen and I have now recieved our final assignments as to who is going to be in which church! I will be at St. Michael's and St. Paul's and Owen will be at St. Pancras and St. Mary's. Because of the uniquness of the congregations that we will be serving in, our jobs will differ a little from one another. Owen will be working a lot with St. Mary's toddler program and youth group as well as coordinate a winter night shelter that will be going on at the church from January to March. I will be working a lot with two schools connected with St. Michael's, lead a bible study for both St. Michael's and St. Paul's, and be connected in some way to the day shelter in the area.

Both of the churches that I am working at have a very interesting past history that I can share a little bit with you here. St. Michael's Church has been a landmark in downtown Camden since the late 18th century. It, like many of it's church counterparts in the area, was built in the Victorian era mindset that EVERYONE needs a church close by so that it will be easier for the public to retain a moral life. Consequently, churches were built in the area not because there was a need in the population, but because the Church of England deemed it necessary for the moral behavior of the city inhabitants. The Victorian Church of England got pretty far in this goal as there is still currently a pew seat for one of every seven people in the entire city of London. Even as the Church of England tries to attract new people in current years, it has become very apparent that there are just too many church buildings in the area for the communities to support. St. Michael's would have fallen onto the "abandoned list" if it had not been for the Reverend Nicholas who came and brought the four parishes of St. Michael's, St. Paul's, St. Mary's, and St. Pancras together. He also retooled the mission of St. Michael's as a church that reaches out to the poor and the hungry. Thus, the congregation of St. Michael's has drastically changed from that of very wealthy Victorian business men, to that of migrant workers, refugees, and people with mental illnesses. On September 29th, St. Michael's will be celebrating it's 10 year fundraising campaign of putting a new £500,000 roof on the church building. The church really looks impressive with it's great new looking spires from the street. Since the building is over 175 years old, it still needs huge upkeep. Now that the building looks new from the outside, it is the inside that needs attention. Plaster is cracking, the floor is worn, the great mosaics are peeling apart. This determined congregation is now setting it's eyes on a new restoration project for the inside. Many believe it won't happen for another 15 years, but this congregation is determined.

St. Paul's was a beautiful church that graced the greenery of Camden Square since the 1820's. It had an incredible 100 ft. high steeple/bell tower that could be seen for miles. This asset turned into a negative as it was one of the many targets for German bombing raids in World War II. Consequently, the building was destroyed and a "temporary" building was installed in 1954 that is still here today. The current building unforunatley doesn't recount any of the beauty of the church that preceeded it (though they were able to reuse some of the stained glass windows). As the area has changed in population, so has the congregation. Though unlike the congregation of St. Michael's, St. Paul's retains a large group of elderly who remember how the church once was and continue to hope to bring it back. This isn't likely any time soon as a new church building would cost well over £1 million pounds. For a congregation of 95, this is a huge task indeed.

This week also gave me the opportunity to be comissioned by the Archdeacon of London. We had a wonderful service here in the Vicarage with a lot of people from the four congregations attending. There is a wonderful sense of excitment and support that I know I will feed off of.

I was also part of an ordination of Father Malcom who has been studying to be a priest here for a long time. It was fascinating to see the culture difference and "high church" ways of the Church of England. Owen and I were called "Vemperbarers" who are in charge of holding onto the Bishop of Edmonton's holy staff and hat. Because of the very nature of these "holy" things, the church of England tradition is that we cannot hold them with our own bare hands, but with a glove/stole thing that I can't remember the name of. We also could also not hand them directly to the bishop, but through a priest or archeacon who was "closer" to the bishop. All in all it was interesting to see this whole process, as my Lutheran tradition has none of this.

It has been an exciting week indeed. More to come.

Life and Death...all in one day!

When one talks about serving in the parish, it is easy to mention how diverse it is as far as daily activities. This was very apparent to me yesterday as Father Bruce asked Owen and I to sit in on a meeting where a couple was planning to get married. There was great excitment and joy as this couple (who is planning to get married in St. Pancras Old Church next year) starteded talking about their upcoming wedding. It was very interesting to see the traditions of the Church of England regarding a wedding ceremony. Most of the traditions like "presenting the bands" (where the names of the two people getting married are presented to the congregation and community three months in advance to give the community a chance to say if they shouldn't get married) happen from a legal stand point just as much as they happen from a ceremony standpoint. Some lawyers even go through the process of making sure that the Church of England practices were done correctly, otherwise the marriage could be considered void in court. Although this is very unusual, it does happen.

After discussing the wonderful and exciting process of getting married in the UK, Owen and I visited a family with Father Nicholas who was mourning the recent death of their 46 year old sister. She died from cancer. The challenge with this case was that Nicholas had never met this woman or even seen the family before. It was thus the task of the three of us to sit down with the older sister and brother and draw a wholesome picture of who this woman was. The family was obviously working class and found it hard to come together with everyone working to make ends meet. They all looked very tired and worn. The family had even just recovered from the death of the grandmother 2 years ago and now were laid with this situation. I could see the anger and great sadness come from the sister and brother of this deceased woman. "Why did God take her at such a young age?!" she cried.

Today, Owen and I helped out at the funeral of the woman. Nicholas preached an incredible sermon- probably even more incredible to Owen and I because we knew he didn't know this woman from a hole in the wall. I recieved lots of comments from the family that his message was well appreciated. The other challenge of planning a funeral service for someone who you don't know is to incorporate different aspects of the person into the service. The sister was quite forward that this woman loved to dance and loved the "Chicken Dance" of all songs! Thus, Father Nicholas (rather reverently) allowed the "Chicken Dance" to be played after he preached! Thus, I can now tell you I have been to service where the special music has been the "Chicken Dance!" What a site!

All of this has definetley emphasized the fact of how much diversity there lies in the job of a priest. In one day, you can be celebrating life and joy with a young couple wanting to get married, and then mourn with a family who just lost a loved one. The priests here at St. Pancras take there job and challenges with a honor and joy that I have never really seen before. What a lesson they can teach all of us about flexibility and grace.

The energy of Camden

It is now been close to a week since I landed in Heathrow Airport. What an amazing week it has been indeed! Father Nicholas, the rector at St. Pancras was there to meet me and help me get back to the Vicarage with all of my luggage. We took the express back to Paddington Station, and then a taxi (I have now ridden in a famous London taxi!) to Camden Square where the Vicarage is. I am still getting used to cars driving on the opposite side of the road. Many people told me that you have to make sure that you look in BOTH directions before crossing the road, because London traffic won't stop for you. In the United States, we automatically look left before crossing the road (even though we should always look BOTH directions). In London, you need to make sure that you look RIGHT as well, otherwise you could be in trouble with another vehicle.

I have also met my housemates for the year: Julian, Liz, and Owen. Julian and Liz are recently married and are paying rent to the perish at a reduced rate. Julian thus serves as the house coordinator or "house president". He makes sure that we have all the community things we need and that everything in the house goes smoothly. Both Julian and Liz are extremely musical which is very exciting! Julian plays jazz guitar and violin (I want to hear him play some jazz things on his violin sometime soon!) He also has a company that composes and records jingles for various companies in London. Liz is a trained opera singer and has just taken a job as program manager with one of the halls in central London (hopefully this will mean some good deals on tickets!) Owen, the other pastoral assistant, is from Wales. He is a wonderful fellow with a great sense of humor. He was also in a choir at his university which just got done with a tour. It has been great to compare musical interests with everyone- we certainly have a musical house!

Camden is the most diverse place I have ever been in. The crazy thing about the character of the town that I have never seen in the U.S. before is the way that the poor and the rich literally live side by side. On the street that our Vicarage is on, you have one side that is filled with million pound villas and on the other side is lower income housing! The different people that you will see walking down the side walk is staggering. You will first see maybe a nicely dressed buisness man, then a trendy european youth, then a muslim cleric, then a older resident who has been living in London for 70 years, and everyone in between! The church services reflect this diversity as well. For example, there was a whole group of newly arrived immigrants from Equador that came to a service on Sunday. Most of them didn't speak a word of English, but the welcoming nature was incredible.

As I start this "first" week of offical work, I will be meeting a lot of people and learning a lot of new things. I am absolutley certain that this place will most strikingly turn my world upside down.. hopefully for the better. Pray for me as I enter into this new world and stay tuned for further updates!