Sunday, December 8, 2013

Advent 1

Gettysburg had 4 inches of snow today. It was snowing very lightly when I left to worship at Christ Chapel - Gettysburg College. By the time worship ended, the snow was falling rapidly so I shoveled. I wonder if this is a foretaste of the winter.

Most of my time in the past few weeks has been planning for teaching a Doctor of Ministry Seminar at Philadelphia Seminary in January. I am enjoying reading more of the literature and hope that students will enjoy the readings as well.

I have continued to participate in professional meetings. From November 8-10 I attended the annual meeting of the Religious Education Association in Boston, Massachusetts. The quality of the sessions was quite good. I am always amazed at the various areas of research by junior and senior scholars in the field. I attended the American Academy of Religion for one day, Saturday 23. Again there were good sessions. At both meetings I heard research on religious education in prisons. As always, I marveled at the book display. I was also able to meet and have conversations with Dr. Richard Stewart and Dr. Beverly Wallace. Professional meeting are great for catching up with friends and colleagues.

 On Remembrance Day, 19 November, I delivered the Benediction. Each year thousands come to Gettysburg to remember the Gettysburg Address. This was especially significant this year as the 150 Year of the Address as well as the Battle at Gettysburg during  the Civil War. Along with Governor Corbett, Chief Justice Scalia was there to swear-in 16 new citizens. I found this to be a moving symbol of focus of the day. This was my second swearing-in of new citizens. I attended the swearing-in of my friend and colleague, Dr. Kirsi Stjerna in Philadelphia.