Here's to Procrastination!

As I sit in my room studying for finals, I thought... "What better way to procrastinate than writing in my blog." So... here goes... It's a cold day, not too cold though, only around 35. The air looks grey. The trees outside my window have nearly lost all of their leaves. We are expecting sleet, ice, and snow later today... a far cry from 72 and sunny. But, at the same time, there is something incredibly comforting about the coming of winter. Perhaps it's all tied together with the Advent season and preparation for finals. The knowing that new things await.

I can't believe that the semester is nearly over. I have my Old Testament final this evening, Greek tomorrow, and then music on Monday. I can't begin to express how much I've enjoyed my first semester. The classes have been outstanding and I've made wonderful friends. This is truly an amazing place. (Like any place... it has its issues but hey... we're all human after all.)

Once finals are over  I'm free to experience the Christmas season in New York! Fresh roasted chestnuts on the streets of Manhattan, window shopping on Fifth Avenue, the Christmas trees, and parties and dinners with friends. (And catching up on all the delayed Christmas shopping.)

Wishing you a blessed Advent!

Joe

Finals are Coming!

Hello all!

I woke up to SNOW this morning. I took this picture out my window this morning. Needless to say, Quark and I had a very cold morning walk as the temp is in the 20s!

Life here is hectic. I've forgotten what the "push" before finals is like and... well... I'm in it and deep. The last day of classes is December 6th, I have several papers and essays due next week, and my finals begin on the 13th. After that I'll have one semester of seminary under my belt. Hard to believe, the time went so fast.

I have found time for fun, though. A group of us went to see the Rockettes 75th Anniversary Christmas show. That was a blast! And then, as it was St. Andrew's day... we visited St. Andrew's pub in Times Square. 

It was so nice to see many of you over the Thanksgiving break. Things are good in NY! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Peace,

Joe

Fall in NYC

Hello all - boy it seems like it's been a long time since I've written. It's fall in NY but there has been no change of the leaves and the weather has been unseasonably warm. However, last week the night temperatures dipped into the 40s. (I'm hoping that was winter but others here just laugh at me.) I suspect we're headed for a change some time soon.

I've been a bit busy in and out of school. As many of you know, my mother was able to come for a visit for about 1 week in early October. It was great to have her here. I had a short fall break during the end of her stay so we were able to play a little - Times Square, Empire State Building, Staten Island Ferry, among others. It was sad to see her go but I did need to get back to my studies. Speaking of studies, we are now in full swing, about 1/2 way through the semester, and I'm up to my eyeballs in reading and writing (still waiting for the math part). I am truly enjoying the coursework. This week I have yet another Greek Quiz and an Old Testament Exam.

Just this past weekend I enjoyed a brief visit with Sarah Stump. It was so nice to see someone from Christ Church and I'm so glad she let me know she'd be in town and was able to make time for a visit. It's nice to maintain that connection and I hope that if any of you come to NYC you do not hesitate to call. I will always find time for a visit. I think of you all often and I am thankful for the postcards. I appreciate your continued prayers. 

I hope to write again soon... and maybe even more pictures.

Peace,

Joe

Matriculation!

Hello all - Well, it's official... I've been matriculated. On Thursday evening we had a huge matriculation ceremony for all the new students during the evensong service. Each one of the new students signed their names in the matriculation book that has been used since 1822. It's pretty awesome to look through that book and see all the names of GTS alumni. It was an honor to put my name in that book. It was also an honor to listen to David Hurd improvise on St. Patrick's Breastplate for 20 minutes while all us new students, one at a time, signed the book. Following the service we had a large dinner banquet followed by a party on top of Sherril Hall. It was great (of course, Friday AM was a bit difficult for most of us).

I continue to enjoy all my classes. (I'm sure that theme will remain the same for some time.) I was thinking today about how different this is from work for so many reasons. As an example, at work, it was easy to leave work in the office and not think about it until 8:00 AM the next day. Here, there is no office to leave it in. All the work comes with me and I'm thinking about it all the time. The good news is I enjoy this material much more than the work I used to do. I continue to work out an appropriate balance between school work and personal time. Hopefully I'll find it soon. (I'm not sure though, with the baseball post season at hand... I'm a bit distracted - even more so if those Padres can make it to the playoffs.)

Now, for the church update. I visited St. Bart's on 51st and Park today.  St Bart's is a huge church with its current building completed in 1918. They have a substantial music program and the congregation was quite large. It seems like a pretty dynamic place but I understand they continue to work through financial difficulties and restoration issues. I especially like what they put at the bottom of the Sunday Bulletin:

"The worship is over. The service begins."

 

I'm expecting my mother on Tuesday, 2 October. She'll be here for a week and I hope we can get out and see some of the city (hopefully I'll have some time away from my studies). We have the Paddock lectures next week, an organ concert, and fall break starts Friday, October 5 through Tuesday, October 9. Next weekend a group of us will travel to Virginia to play football against VTS. I suspect we'll get pummeled but we'll have fun! I'll be sure to update you on those events.

Peace.

Catching Up

It's been awhile since I've written and much has happened. First and foremost, I finally had a complete week of classes. Along with that comes a full week of homework and reading. I'm doing my best to keep ahead of the assignments but it gets pretty tough. My Old Testament class is great. It is three hours long on Thursday nights but I thoroughly enjoy the lectures by Prof. Owens. It's been great. I've also been enjoying my Greek class. It's nice to use "the other" side of my brain (much more in line with my engineering background). And, much to my surprise, I tried out for the choir and made it! I'm hoping that it will allow me to become a better singer as I believe music and singing are very important parts of the liturgy. So, I'm ready for another week.

I've had some pretty interesting worship experiences the last two Sundays. As part of the Tutorial Seminar class I have been encouraged to worship at an Episcopal church with a worship style I have not had much experience with and to visit a church of another denomination. Last week I attended a 6:00PM contemporary liturgy at Epiphany Episcopal Church. It was a very interesting service using modern live music (piano, guitar, drums) throughout the service. Even during the Great Thanksgiving there was music in the background and images displayed beside the altar. I believe they refer to this as emerging liturgy. While I expected to find this distracting, it was actually quite nice and peaceful. The music performance was excellent and soothing. However, I did discover that for me personally some of the images were a bit unsettling. Overall, the worship was spirit filled and I think I'd like to go back and visit again.

Today I and several others went to a Baptist Church in the Bronx that is the home parish of one of my class mates. I have never been to a Baptist Church before today and this was certainly an eye opening experience. The service was 2.5 hours of spirit filled singing, preaching, praying and packed with "Amen"s. It was a pleasure to worship there. The congregation was very welcoming, and, although it was obvious I was an outsider, they made me feel at home. The service is significantly different than how I prefer to worship yet the presence of Christ can not be denied. I find it fascinating that although there are many different styles of worship (each of us with a style that works for us) and different interpretation of the scriptures, we remain brothers and sisters in Christ. Thanks be to God. 

To my Parish Family is Coronado, thanks so much for the prayers and support. I'm loving the postcards and I think they will come in handy when I'm looking at the snow covered close and dreaming of the warm San Diego days. And remember, if any of you make it to NYC, give me a call!

Until next time (and I'll try not to be so long between posts!)

Back to School

Well, I feel like I've finally come up for air. The first week of school ended well with a three hour Old Testament class on Thursday evening. I am looking forward to that class... in fact, I'm looking forward to all my classes. I attended the Church of the Holy Apostles on Sunday (that's right up the street from General on 28th and Ninth). The service was great and the music phenomenal (no doubt due to the gifts of Dr. Hurd, Holy Apostles' music director). Holy Apostles has a great ministry in the city of New York. They operate a soup kitchen at which they server more than 1000 meals each weekday! October 22 will be their 25th anniversary of this ministry... ahh the results of Gospel in action!

Following church on Sunday I volunteered at the opening of the Desmond Tutu Education Center (here at General). Volunteering was great: I was able to see the renovated building at the west end of the Close, observe the ribbon cutting (at which Bishop Tutu, Bishop Katherine, and Dean Ewing participated), and share in the Ubuntu banquet dinner which followed. Although the volunteers were not in the main hall, the speakers were displayed on video screens in the other rooms which afforded the privilege of hearing Archbishop Tutu speak about reconciliation and the spirit of Ubuntu. (In a nutshell, Ubuntu is the philosophy that: all of our lives are interdependent; our salvation is dependent upon the salvation of all others; individual welfare in the world depends upon welfare of everyone in the world. Again... that's a very high level view. Nobody can explain it like Bishop Tutu himself.) The conference then continued on Monday, Tuesday, and into this morning. 

During the conference there were many sessions on reconciliation efforts around the world and in different contexts. I attended a session on racial and social justice presented by Dr. Ed Rodman of EDS. I also attended a session on reconciliation in the Anglican Communion presented by Bishop Gene Robinson. I attended plenary sessions by Christopher Marshall, Archbishop Tutu and Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori, and a session on scriptural reasoning for inter-religious understanding. Attending the conference helped me to understand that while preaching the Gospel is important, the Gospel in action is necessary. I feel the desire to act but I believe that right now my job is to continue my formation, better preparing me to serve Christ in the world. In the meantime, I'm sure I will have opportunities to serve. One last note, I had the privilege of serving as one of the acolytes (a responsibility that falls upon he Junior class) during the eucharist at which Bishop Katherine presided. I had a blast! It was such a joy to serve at the altar with her.

I encourage all interested in the Tutu Center and the conference on reconciliation to follow this link . There are also some photos of the opening gala here. 

So, in summary, the last three weeks have been hectic; not much rest, not much normalcy, extraordinary events. I'm looking forward to classes becoming more regular. 

Thank you for all your prayers. Until next time - peace.

Pictures of the Chapel and the Close

Here are a couple of pictures, one of the sculpture behind the altar in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd and the other a picture I took on the close while waiting for chapel. (The foot in the bottom right belongs to my floormate.)

Classes Start Tuesday!

OK, I'm not sure orientation was supposed to leave me feeling disoriented but.... Orientation was like drinking from a fire hose, much information was shared including worship traditions, which books to use when during the sung services, meeting with faculty advisors, discussing insurance options, financial aid, business office, staff introductions and, of course, registration. As an incoming Junior my class selection was pretty much decided for me, save for a single elective. For all who are interested, here are my classes:
Old Testament 1 - Prof. Robert Owens
New Testament 1 - Prof. Dierdre Good
Church Music 1 - Prof. David Hurd
Tutorial Seminar - Dean Ward Ewing
Greek 10 - Prof. John Koenig (this is my elective)
I've also signed up for a writing class (hopefully this will help me transition for technical writing to theological writing).

I'm looking forward to the start of classes. Our first week will be a bit short (starting on Tuesday) and then we have an immediate break as classes are suspended for the opening of the Tutu Center and the Reconciliation at the Roundtable Conference. All students are registered for the conference and I am looking forward to attending. It will be incredible to hear Archbishop Tutu and PB Katherine speak.

Finally, I worshipped at St. Thomas at 53rd and 5th this Sunday. St. Thomas was very high church (no smoke though). It's been a long time since I've looked at the priests back during Eucharist. And know it's been two weeks in a row (last week at St. Mary's and this week). Also, I'd say that St. Thomas follows a Rite 1 service but, as they continue to use

the 1928 prayer book, that would be redundant as there is only one service for the Eucharist. St. Thomas has an enormous sculpture behind the altar. It fills the entire back wall of the church. I'd encourage anybody visiting NY to simply walk in and take a look.

OK then... next time I write there will be class work under my belt. Thank you all for your prayers!

Peace,
Joe

Ready for Orientation

Hello Again!
My place continues to come along. It is feeling more and more like home... not sure if that's because I'm more comfortable here or because the dog is more comfortable... either way, it's good. The photo of my dorm room shows my desk (which is already a mess), my couch (with the dog in her assumed position) and the view out my window (which is nice and woodsy... lots of squirrels, too!). I'll find a better way to make photos available but for now, this works.
Yesterday I attended the Solemn Mass at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Times Square. Boy, Fr. Ron wasn't kidding about High Church. I've never seen that much smoke come billowing out of a censer in my life! It was awesome, though. Really a beautiful service. No Choir as they are off for the summer but the soprano cantor was phenomenal.
New student orientation begins this evening with a community Eucharist in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd followed by dinner. I'm looking forward to getting started. Since the first semester is pretty much set in stone (save for my elective) I've purchased my books and am trying to get a jump start on some of the reading. I'll be taking Old Testament I, New Testament I, Church Music I, TSP I (a tutorial seminar Program) and, as my elective, Greek! I've spent the last few days burning the greek alphabet into my memory banks.
I finally met one of my floor mates. His name is Frederick and he is from Haiti. He arrived today (just in time for orientation). I'm sure I'll be getting to know him a bit better over the next few years.

Until next time! Peace.

Settling in on the Close

Well, the drive cross country went pretty well. Only got lost once in New Jersey (I'm pretty sure they do that on purpose in New Jersey). My Nephew and I arrived at GTS on Thursday Morning, August 16. It was hot and humid and we took about two hours to unload the car and haul all of my belongings (including the dog and the cat) up four flights of stairs. The Seminary is beautiful, just like I remember from my visit in February except now there is no snow. The close is quiet, peaceful, serene. The Chapel of the Good Shepherd is awesome and I can't wait to start worshiping there. Daniel and I attended the Eucharist at Trinity Wall Street on Sunday.
My dorm room is a bit larger than I expected. I will be setting up a small, makeshift, kitchen in one of the bedrooms and will put my desk in the living room. Although the seminary provided a desk I was not to keen about working on a 36 inch by 18 inch work surface. So, that desk has become a counter in my kitchen and I am purchasing a desk on-line.
As planned, I brought no furniture with me so the first week or so is dedicated to furniture shopping and buying those items necessary to establish myself in my apartment. (that's what I'm calling it now because I'm going to do my best to make it feel not like a dorm room.)
My room is in Dehon Hall (named after the second Bishop of South Carolina). I actually have a small fireplace with built in shelves. It's nice... only problem is that the cat keeps trying to escape out the chimney. I have yet to meet others on my floor and have only met one other person in the building. Once I figure out a good way to post pictures (and once I get it looking like home instead of empty rooms) I'll post some photos.
Orientation starts Monday. That gives me five more days to really settle in. Until next time... Peace.

Halfway There

Well, it's been a heck of a drive so far but we (my nephew Daniel, the dog, the cat and I) are over half way there. We've been through the desert, over the Rockies, across the great plains and into corn, corn, and more corn. We've spent the last day and a half in Milwaukee visiting with family. Tomorrow we head to Ft. Wayne, Indiana where we will visit with Tony and Robin Mireles (one time parishioners at Christ Church). We are on schedule to arrive at GTS on Thursday, 16 August. I'm sure the dog and cat look forward to some stability as Daniel and I look forward to not having to unload and load the pets each day in a hotel parking lot.
It was difficult leaving my mother and sisters in San Diego but the closer I get to New York the more confident I become in answering God's call. I look forward to arriving on the close. At times it still feels like I'm on a big vacation. Once I arrive in the city and settle into my room I know I will begin to feel at home. I'm a bit anxious about how the dog will adjust. I guess we'll see. Look for my next post from General!
Thanks for your thoughts, prayers, and support.

My First Post

Hello all. This is my first post and intriduces you to the forum for keeping you all up to date on my activities, sharing some pictures of my adventures, and receiving your comments and thoughts in return. My time in San Diego is short and I am in the middle of packing up some belongings, storing others, and donating the rest. I don't think my dog has any idea what I am doing and I'm certain she's in for a big surprise. As for the cat... well... he couldn't care less (as long as I feed him).
My nephew and I (and the dog and cat) will leave next week for NY. It will be a long drive but I am hoping to see some family along the way.
I am thankful for the support from all at Christ Church and look forward to returning to my Church Home throughout my time in Seminary.
Please, feel free to respond and leave comments. I'll post again when we get to the Close!