Learning Time in Indiana

This past week I also spent a few days in Indiana for a learning cohort through the Lilly Foundation. It was beautiful weather and lots of fun. 

Cool car on loan from the Indianapolis Speedway at the airport. 

Christmas was on full display in our hotel, which was an fancy boutique space redone from an old Coca Cola Bottling Factory. The rooms were massive. 

Wednesday morning we took a walking tour through downtown called Myths and Monuments. Indianapolis has the second largest collection of monuments in the US outside of DC. It was so awesome to enjoy the cool weather and to see fall leaves! 

This circle is the literal geographic center of the city when it was plotted out. And this enormous statue to commemorate soldiers from Indiana is inside the circle. 

We walked a few blocks away to the site of the lynching of a man named John Tucker, attacked for no reason on July 4, 1845.  This glass structure walkway connecting the shopping district sits overtop of the site. 

On our walk to the State House, there was a marker for an African American woman who was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives and the state public defender. 

And we took the bus to a park dedicated to both MLK and RFK. RFK was campaigning in this spot, an African American neighborhood in Indy, when he received the news of MLK's assassination and he announced it to the crowd.

There are two cohorts of the Architects of a Fear+Less Future meeting. Two other Florida folks are part of the other cohort - Meghan and Molly. 

 

Siblings

While I was in Indianapolis, I got to spend some time with my younger brother Andrew. He lives nearby in Avon. We met up and went to dinner. It was so lovely to be able to spend some time together. The last time we were in a room together was 1997 on a visit to Ohio while I was in college. 

 

Last Week in the Life

I had the opportunity to preach in Naples for All Saints' Sunday and it was really nice to have the chance to remember my parents and grandparents in the course of the sermon. 

In the afternoon, I presided over the Lee County Mission Field Charge Conference held out on Pine Island with the six Lee County churches. 

Tuesday I was back in Naples to have clergy 1:1s meetings with all the Collier County pastors. This was the view from the conference room. 

Thursday, I visited Wellen Park with a few other pastors, thinking and dreaming about the possibilities of expanding ministry out into that ara. 

On Friday, I headed over to Orlando for a national UM young adult conference for those interested in exploring a call to ministry - Exploration. Florida was well represented with lots of people in attendance and helping to lead workshops and volunteer. 

Both of these students have been summer pastoral interns and Whitney on the left was on the design team for the event. 

Bishop Berlin came over to share a word about his testimony of calling. And he was on a panel discussion with a few other bishops. 

They had a labyrinth in the sacred space. 

Saturday morning I got up early to be with my clergy friend Morgan who lead Sunrise Stretching outside. 

And then later Morgan and I co-taught a workshop on self care and spiritual disciplines. We had 90 students over three sessions attend. 

Rev. Dr. Ashley Crawford was one of the preachers for worship. She and I attended seminary together at Asbury and we discovered this weekend that we were both at Exploration 1996 in Dallas/Fort Worth. 

These are a couple of students from campus ministry in Miami . 

Representing from the South West District - four clergy and one youth director exploring call. 

Most of our Florida group. 

Rev. Melissa Cooper on the right is from Florida too, leading in communion with another one of our bishops. 

And the final preacher of the event was Albarka, one of our Global Mission Fellows from Nigeria. His brother is connected to the online church in my district so I got a chance to say Hi and bring greetings. 

It was a really wonderful weekend and it was also such a full circle moment to be at Exploration 30 years later as a volunteer and workshop leader.