Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Summer Report

Since the last time I posted, the spring term (we call it Eastertide) has ended and the summer term (Petertide) has come and gone.  It’s hard to believe that at this time a year ago, we were moving in and getting ready for orientation and the Michaelmas term – this first year has flown by.

After celebrating Easter here, the school takes its spring break and we spent the time quietly – Aly was still in school and I had a bunch of papers to write before the end of the term.  On the 2nd weekend after Easter, Margaret and I flew to Fort Worth for the weekend to preach at my sending parish (St. John’s) – it was a great, but fast weekend.  Early in May, the school takes a day off from classes to do a “church tour” of some of the churches in Milwaukee (next year, we’ll go to Chicago) – from Coptic to Orthodox to Anglican.  It was a wonderful trip – so many beautiful churches!
The term ends in the middle of May, so all the students were very busy writing papers and studying for finals.  As soon as finals were over, we had Commencement, and the day following, I left for my summer internship in Tallahassee, Florida at St. Peter’s Anglican Church.  It is a great and a big church – there are so many things going on all the time – many things to learn, as well as many chances to preach and teach.  My list of activities spanned ten weeks and three pages of items.  There were few distractions to the busy schedule – I flew to the Fort for Stephanie and Chris’ wedding, which was a wonderful event, and Margaret dropped in with the kids for a few days – it was good to see them – I spent most of the summer separate from my family, but became part of the St. Peter’s family.  If you’re interested, my sermons are on the saint-peters.net website.

The first Sunday in August was my last day in Florida – many tearful goodbyes and many thanks for a fantastic summer, and then 1100 miles back to Nashotah House.  It was great to see Margaret and Aly again, and we flew John up for the weekend to go to the Renaissance Festival near here.  Margaret was promoted to Kitchen Manager in June, so she’s been working all summer – she’s now preparing for the new school year starting next week.  I know she’s going to have a great (and healthy) menu for us.
After Labor Day, classes for my Middler year start – Hebrew, Liturgics, New Testament, Systematic Theology, and Moral and Ethical Theology.  Aly starts her senior year at Oconomowoc High School the same day.  Please pray for all of us as we continue our journey.

Blessings to all,
Richard
 All Saints Episcopal Cathedral ca. 1869










 

Church of the Gesu Irish Catholic ca. 1893













St. Anthony's German Catholic ca. 1872
















St. Saba Serbian Orthodox Cathedral ca. 1912
St. Stanislaus Polish Catholic ca. 1872
 
St. Peter's Anglican, Tallahassee, FL
Vacation Bible School








Fr. Michael Petty - St. Peter's Anglican
...and the four Seminarian Fellows: (L-R) Me (Nashotah House), Aaron Harrison (Duke Divinity School),  Daniel Holloway (Beeson Divinity School), Chris Jones (Trinity School for Ministry)