a little work on the side...

I have been climbing a little bit at this rock gym in Manchester, CT(~20mins where we live). And I am going to be able to set routes there so I can climb for free. Basically I would be one of the different people putting holds on the walls so that it resembles climbing outside. This is something I was able to do a little bit of in St. Louis and it should be a great way to get connected to other folks at the gym.

ordination - not yet

So last weekend I went to Providence, RI for presbytery. Providence is a neat little city. I got to walk around a bit, hang out in a Starbucks and search for somewhat free parking. I had a short meeting with the leadership development committee Friday night and then stayed with a family from the Trinity Pres Providence. They have this cool building downtown that was converted to from an old factory. There is a sanctuary on the first floor. On the second there are classrooms, offices, and open space. The third floor will be condos. Saturday morning I preached a sermon before presbytery started and that portion went well. I was examined on the floor around 3:30 and was off to a good start but fumbled the ball (to use a football metaphor). On part of the theology exam (regarding tongues and prophecy) I talked to much, was unclear, and ended making it worse for myself. The presbytery arrested (stopped) the exam, deliberated (while I was outside the room), and decided that I should come back in April. They passed me on all the other points except for theology. I was somewhat surprised but knew this could happen. It was mainly ridding home that I got bummed out and discouraged. It was a tough experience but I can definately see God's hand in it. So basically between now and the next presbytery meeting in April, I'll be working through this one issue. Outside of a little extra studying, this won't affect my life too drastically over the next few montsh. Thanks to all of you who have prayed for me and encouraged me through this.

a New Nephew and other things

This is Blaize Clay Owen who was born on December 27th. This is our first nephew, born to Hillary's sister Lydia. Lydia delivered a few weeks late and he weighed nine or so pounds and was pretty long. (you can tell a guy is writing this due to the vague details)
Besides this bit of news life has been pretty uneventful. I am coming to an end of my ordination studying. I am generally prepared for this saturday and just need to work on my sermon a little more. It was a pretty full weekend ministry wise - having teens over on Friday night (only one ended up coming but we had a great time playing Settlers of Catan). Saturday morning was guys bible study then getting ready to teach the teens on Sunday morning. I'm beginning to settle into somewhat of a rhythm and it feels good. It worked out that I was able to go climbing and kayaking last week - it was great!

ordination status - positive neutral

It has been about three weeks since posting and the primary reason is that I've been in the wonderful (sort of) world of ordination testing. Thanks to the many you who have prayed for me as I've been taking the exams. I spent the week before Christmas taking the written exams and emailed those in on the 22nd then I the oral portion this past Saturday.

for those of you unfamiliar with the process, it goes like this:

-post seminary you get a call to serve at a church somewhere

-to become a minister the Presbytery (the pastors and elders from Presbyterian churches in that region) has to ordain you

-to be ordained you need a seminary degree, a completed internship, and a few other things (character refrences, theological papers, a sermon, stuff like that)

-there is a specific committee within the Presbytery that does the majority of the work in giving you a written and oral exam, and in evaluating both of these

-if you pass these exams (on bible, theology, sacraments, church history, and church government) the committe recomends you to the presbytyer

-you go before the presbytery and they'll ask you some questions touching on these areas, you'll take certain vows, and they will agree to ordain you

-then there will be an actual ordinatio service, usually at the church you are serving at

Overall, the process has gone pretty well. The leadership development committee, who oversees the process, was very encouraging regarding my written exams. I thought I had done well, but there were also things that I knew I had answered incorrectly or had mixed up some of the details. As I was preparing for the oral portion of the exam I was reading some theology stuff online and realized that I had potentially steped on theological landmine in how I answered one of the question. When the committee brought this up, but it was easily resolved, since I had done further reading and knew how to answer the question better. I passed my oral exams in all areas except theology and my sermon - there are slight things in both of these which I need to tweak. So what I'll do is go before the leadership development committee on the night before the presbytery meets and if everything is ironed out I'll be recommended to the presbytery the following day. So, the studying continues but has somewhat lessened. I hope this makes sense to the many who are unfamiliar with this process (I've been learning a lot of it as I go along).

shuffleboard, snow and Guido de Bres

Hey everyone - its been about two weeks since we have posted - yikes. There are many reasons - ie we've been busy. Here is a short update.

1. Shuffleboard: Hillary and I went on a min-vacation with some free airline tickets and accomodations. We stayed in St. Simons Island, GA and got to hang out on Sea Island - where you see Hillary tearing it up in shuffleboard. It was in the upper 70's, so we walked the beach and swam in the pool!

2. Snow! We were back in Hartford for about a day when it started to snow and didn't stop. We got 13 inches and this is a picture of our grill covered with a snowy hat.

-as you can see there was lots of shoveling to do. Our sidewalk isn't too large but our driveway is way too long. Now I know why the majority of my neighbors have snow blowers.

3. Guido - he is the author of the belgic confession, which was written in the 16th C. during the Reformation. I've been studying a lot for ordination exams (I need to pass them to become ordained in the Presbyterian Church) and one morning my first thought on waking up was of Guido de Bres - isn't that wierd! So if you remember me during the next week please pray for me as I'll be taking the written portion of the exams.

feeling 27

So I turned 27 yesterday and I am already feeling it. I had a fun day with some great surprises but by the end of the evening my throat was bothering me, my head hurt, and my body ached. I felt mostly the same when I woke up this morning and I was teling Hillary that I am feeling my age! It is strange to be in my late 20's. I know you have to age and that everyone who's older than 27 is thinking, "just wait" till you reach___." I don't know why getting older is hitting me more this year, but it is.

zeroing in

It looks like everything is coming together for me to take my ordination exams in late December. This has been a long process and it is exciting to be drawing to a close but there is a lot to do. I'm memorizing all sorts of things, like where you could read about Gideon, the years David was King of Israel, and differing views of God's decrees. Some of this is will be very usefull and other parts I will likely forget after the exams. It is exciting to prepare and go back over all this stuff I learned in Seminary, but it can be a little overwhelming at points. I also need to write a paper or two, so pray for me - the written materials are due by Christmas.
Hillary and I are heading down to my parents for Thanksgiving so that will be great. Seeing friends and family, eating good food, and time to just relax - we are both looking forward to it.