Monday, September 08, 2008

Totally Not Hurricane Related...

I'm still in Anniston waiting to see where Ike goes, and I still don't have power in my building in Baton Rouge.

Yesterday, I went to church with and and lunch with some lovely, if really, really old, Lutherans. It was a tiny little church, with a pastor from Birmingham coming down every Sunday (though they are about to get a lay minister all their own). There were maybe 50 people in attendance (if they were lucky), and they were all really, really old. They insisted that I join them for their fellowship hour (which consists of a potluck every week - even really, really old Southern ladies insist on cooking for potlucks, I guess). The food was good, they had no idea Gustav was so bad (thanks, national media!), and they made me take leftovers back to the hotel with me.

Oh, and LP, you would have loved this church. Traditional architecture, Stations of the Cross on the walls, a side altar with a cross and icons (I couldn't get close enough to see them clearly, but I think one was Christ Pantocrator, and the other one might have been Marian).

My church missed out on the opportunity to get a discount on the Gathering 2009 in New Orleans (Lutheran Youth Conference). We got a really late start because of the retirement of our pastor and the fact that no one stepped up to take care of the youth in his stead until I did. So now, instead of having to raise $200 per person, we have to raise about $600-700 per person. And doing that is complicated by the fact that so many of our parishoners had severe damage to their homes. I hate asking people for money when they've taken such a big financial hit. Oh, and we've missed the deadline for applying for scholarship funds, too.

Sigh.

Oh, and (for those of you with ties to Gannon), when did they start a Catholic House in addition to the Kirk House, and why? I liked the fact that the KH was interdenominational. I think it was a good thing for all concerned. It sounds like a lot less fun than the KH was, too (well, except for the election of '92...but we don't need to talk about that...).

Also, can y'all figure out where exactly this place is? Isn't 6th and Myrtle Wickford Apts (well, Wickford, the Erie Women's club, a law firm, and...no idea what is a across Myrtle from Wickford)?

The things you discover when you are in exile in the middle of nowhere, waiting to get to go home.

1 comment:

LutherPunk said...

I would love a place that had a side altar and icons. Of course, i would love church not in a strip mall at this point.