Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Republican Grove VFD Helipad

The Volunteer Fire Department of Republican Grove dedicated their new helipad. It is only the second helipad in Halifax County.


Now if anyone goes critical during one of my sermons (highly unlikely, unless sleeping counts), all they have to do is get you next door and fly you out.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Father's Day

For Father's Day Joanne gave me a scale replica of Shields Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg.We have had more anniversary dinners at Shields tavern than anywhere else.
 
We had dinner at Mom and Dad's. We had a nice time talking with my sisters Dawna and Paula. It was fun using Skype to not only talk to them but to see them on the computer. I am going to have to get that hooked up on mine.
 
We found a book about oysters for Dad.The book talks about the various oysters up and down the east coast. Since Dad loves his oysters, I figured he was the only person I could think of that might actually read the book and enjoy it.
 
Jeremiah, Dad, and me.
 
 Joanne, Jeremiah, and me.

We had a nice Father's Day, hope all of you did,too.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

The Newlyweds at St. Andrews UMC for Their First Sunday

Josh and Kate Dalton came to church the morning after they were married. Our benediction that morning was to have them come up to the front of the sanctuary for the entire congregation to gather around, place their hands on them, and pray that God would bless their marriage and life together.

When the "Amen" was said, we pulled out the bubble juice and blew bubbles, just like we did when they left the reception. Everyone was laughing and celebrating.

A wonderful way to start a life together, in God's house, with God's people, blowing bubbles, and laughing.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Father's Day on the Mount Airy Charge

On the Mount Airy Charge we recognize all men on Father's Day, regardless of age or whether they have had children or not.
We want all of our men to recognize that though they may not have had children, they may minister as "Spiritual Fathers" or surrogate fathers depending on the situation.
Joanne made up a little gift with lifesavers for each of the men in our 3 churches.
Even the pastor gets a Father's Day surprise.
Happy Father's Day men, thank you for serving and ministering to others.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

The Wedding of Joashua and Kate Dalton

Here comes the Bride! Joshua and Kate Dalton were married Saturday June 19th at Straightstone Baptist Church in Pittsylvania County. I co-officiated with Pastor Paul Woodward of Straightstone Baptist Church. He did the opening half of the service and I picked it up with the vows. The transition was during a special song.
 
It was a beautiful service and went off with barely a glitch. I was going to serve the couple Communion and then there was to be a song, and then they would do the Unity Sand. The singer started before we had a chance to begin the Communion. I looked at Kate and Josh and told them no problem. When the song was finished I served Communion, then they moved directly to do the Unity Sand. It went seamlessly.
 
Presenting Mr. & Mrs. Joshua and Kate Dalton.
 
Rachel Nuckols, the Bride's sister and Maid of Honor.
 
The newlyweds first dance.
 
The Father and Daughter Dance.
 
The Mother and Son Dance.
 
The Buffet line and Dan hugging Kate.
 
The Cutting of the Wedding Cake, with Kate neatly feeding Joshua his first bite of cake. No cake up the nose for anyone today.
 
The Wedding Toast.
 
Kate with Bridesmaids by the pool. And no, they didn't toss her in the pool.
 
A quiet moment to catch their breath,
 
Watching the pros flat-footin' to "Rocky Top".
 
The Siblings; Kate Dalton, Rachel and Dan Nuckols.
 
Dan Nuckols and Rachel Fisk
 
A happy pastor and wife, to have been included in such a special day.
 
Lisa and A.J. Nuckols, the very happy parents of the Bride.
 
They blew bubbles instead of throwing rice. That way they could start inside the building and just follow Josh and Katie out the door.
 
Heading out! It looks like either the airbag went off or a jar of marshmallow fluff exploded. Happy couple, happy family and friends, a very good day.Thank you all for the privilege of being a part of it.

Josh and Katie's Wedding Rehearsal

Joanne and I got back from Williamsburg on Friday evening, just in time to change clothes, into something better than our traveling duds, and make it to the wedding rehearsal for Josh Dalton and Katie Nuckols.
 
I like rehearsals, mainly because everyone is a bit more relaxed and plays around.
 
The wedding will be at Straightstone Baptist Church and I will be co-officiating with their pastor, Paul Woodward.
 
The rehearsal went fine, but even when they're total chaos the wedding seems to come off beautiful. Personally, I think its another one of those God things. After the rehearsal we had diner in the church fellowship hall.
 
Tomorrow's a big day. 

Anniversary Trip to Colonial Wiiliamsburg

The day after the Virginia United Methodist Annual Conference ended, Joanne and I went to Colonial Williamsburg for the day. Actually we made it until 1 PM, by then the temperature was 95 degrees and Joanne was turning beet red. So we didn't make a whole day, but we didn't get heat stroke either.
 
If you haven't been to Colonial Williamsburg recently, expect some entertaining changes. They have always had reenactors, but now its a production, with performances in the streets and on stages. You can follow the story from one place to the next and it is thoroughly involving. 
 
The story we saw was about the Stamp Act Tax and Governor Dunsmore having removed the gunpowder and muskets from the magazine under the cover of night. It told the story of how these actions effected the population of colonial Williamsburg, from affluent and influential to the common folk and slaves.
 
The Capitol building of Colonial Williamsburg.
 
Now, we could simply go and just hang out in the gardens at Colonial Williamsburg. The pace is slow and comfortable, especially when its a bit cooler. 
 
One of the newest things in Colonial Williamsburg is the Coffee House. It is the building closest to the Capitol. They have a tour through the building explaining its function and use. The tour finished with everyone being served hot tea, coffee, or chocolate. We were advised that good colonialist we would avoid the tea, because of the tax. Joanne and I tried the chocolate, which tasted as if you had melted a dark chocolate bar and poured it in the cup. We added some cream to the cup and it wasn't quite as strong.
 
Thursday evening, we ate ate shields Tavern, for our anniversary; a week late, but worth the wait. Of all the taverns you can dine at in Colonial Williamsburg, Shields has been our consistent favorite. There was a man playing bagpipes outside as we waiting. I think if he had played inside there might have been a small riot. During dinner we were entertained by guitar, fiddle, and a horn that looked like it came from the imagination of Dr. Seuss. When we finished our meal we were the last ones in our room and most of the tavern.    
 
Even with the heat, it was a great day. Though I think next time we visit, it will be in the Fall of the year. 

2010 Virginia United Methodist Annual Confeence

 The Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church was held in Norfolk VA this year. We met in the Norfolk Scope, a large convention center/arena, starting Sunday June 13th through Wednesday the 16th. The first night Communion was served to all those in attendance. No small logistical task.
 
Annual Conference is the time when we have the Ordering of Ministry service, where all the new pastors are licensed and ordained.  They all march in together, then the various groupings go up on the platform. There was large group this year; 19 ordained as Elders and 38 licensed as local pastors.
 
There were are variety of speakers. One was Jim Gulley (lower left hand corner in photo above), who was in Haiti and trapped in the collapsed Montana Hotel for 58 hours. He was in Haiti as part of a three-member team from the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) on a quest to improve medical services and agricultural practices in Haiti. The other two were the Rev. Sam Dixon, head of UMCOR, The United Methodist Committee on Relief, and the Rev. Clint Rabb, who led the Volunteers In Mission area. Dixon and Rabb did not survive the ordeal. His story and his call for continued involvement in Haiti was a highlight of the conference for me.
 
Joanne and I sat with George and Kathy Schaeffer up in the nosebleed section. We tried sitting down front and center, but there were too many folks having their own conversations for us to hear what was going on. There were quite a few resolutions that were brought before the conference and voted on; we wanted to hear the discussion.
 
There were several resolutions we were very interested in; "A Call to Prayer and Ministry for Military Families", "Coping with Crime", and "Tobacco Policy in Virginia". Some were simply recommendations for the denominational position to be presented to the state legislature. The discussion was interesting, but usually cut short, unfortunately not everyone gets to speak. 

On Tuesday evening, during the dinner break, The Lynchburg District pastors and representatives met at a local mall to have dinner together. We did this last year and it helps to meet other pastors and people from the Lynchburg District that you may not know or even see often.
 
Now this is Joanne's greatest fear, me loose in the bookstore.  I'll go wandering off looking at books and every time Joanne sees me she'll ask, "What do you have in your hands now?" Overall I behaved well and didn't come home with too many. Joanne is the rational part of my brain, in person, when I'm in a bookstore.

All in all it was a good conference. A little too much "political correctness" for my taste, but I made it through. Sometimes it seems more like we're running a business than a church. But, I got to see friends I don't get to see very often and that's a good thing. I got to see the diversity of our denomination working together and that's a good thing. I heard about the variety of missions and ministries of the United Methodist Church and that's a good thing. I came away more positive than negative and that's a good thing. I left ready to get back to my churches and ministry; and that's a God thing.

Go to   http://www.vaumc.org   and click on 2010 Annual Conference for more info.