I am up to 21 congregations visited, and I'm feeling like I am no longer just starting out on this journey. One thing that has really struck me in my many visits is that fact that I truly do have 56 homes in the State of New Hampshire. Home is a very powerful concept. It is a place where you are always welcome; where you can find family and friends; where you are free to be who you truly are. I have felt this sense of home in one way or another in every church I have visited so far. At times I have thought it might be nice to have a second home, a place to get away, enjoy some peace and quiet. Some people are fortunate enough to have several homes scattered around the country or around the world. This journey has made me realize that I have hundreds of homes all around the world. So do you. Fifty six of them are right here in our fine state. We are very fortunate indeed.
It's been a busy fall, and one thing that it has taken it's toll on is blogging. In order to get caught up, I've got a quick review below of the October and November EBP stops.
9/25 - EBP stop #17: St. John's Portsmouth
This is a familiar ride for me. My folks live in Newcastle, right next to Portsmouth, and I have ridden to their house a number of times. There were several fun things about this visit:
1) I got to ride down with Philip Pancoast, of St. Matthew's, who volunteered to join me. He's a pretty strong rider (although he'll deny it), and he kept the pace up and got us to St. John's about 20 mins early.
2) I got to talk to the Sunday School kids before the service, including my nephew Jack, who attends St. John's. They had great questions!
3) I got to sit with my brother Mike and his mother-in-law, as well as Sarah, who were all there that day.
4) I heard a great sermon by The Rev. Jeff Thornberg, in which he somehow managed to tie in the book & movie "The Help" with the Gospel. I subsequently listened to "The Help" audio book, which was very moving. I am still thinking about it and my perception of people of different races & backgrounds from me.
5) The Rev. Rob Stevens invited me up in front of the whole church at announcements, bike and all, to tell my story.
6) I got to talk to a whole bunch of people at coffee hour, including some folks who run their meal program, called "Common Table". It's a neat program where they invite local chefs to help cook for people in need in the community.
The stats (all approx - from memory) | distance: 90 miles | Average speed: 17 mph | Average HR: 145 | Total climb: 2000 ft
10/2 - EBP stop #1A: St. Matthew's Goffstown
I went to my home parish, St. Matt's, on this Sunday because the Bishop was visiting; it was good to be back at St. Matt's. Of course, Gene is always inspiring and the energy of the parish was great. Also, I was able to get signatures on my shirt from the "home folks", since I didn't have my official jersey when I embarked from there back in May. Since it was the Bishop's visit and I went by bike in my EBP uniform, I am calling this stop #1A of the project.
The stats | Distance: 19.9 miles | Average Speed: 17 mph | Average Heart Rate: 154 bpm | Total Climb: 900 ft
10/9 - The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles - see separate post
10/16 - EBP stop #18: St. John the Baptist Sanbornville
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This was the first relatively long ride since Berlin. It was quite hilly. I was paying close attention to my body and making sure I paced myself appropriately. I managed OK - a small victory.
St. John the Baptist (or SJTB as they call it) is led by The Rev. Sue Poulin, who sits with me on the Mission Resources Committee. She's a great soul, a good thinker, and a real asset to the committee. The church seemed a bit subdued, which was understandable; I later found out that a longtime parishioner and the matriarch of the congregation had just passed away that week. They had a music director who played a soprano saxophone as accompaniment to the choir and organ; not something you hear every day. At coffee hour, I learned about their feeding program, one aspect of which where they bring meals to some folks who live in a motel a few miles up the road from the church. This was the first time I heard of a church going and seeking out people in need rather than waiting for them to come the to church. I also spent some time with Sue touring their day school, a community pre-school and after school program that they run, which is housed in a former rectory that they have converted.
The Stats | Distance: 114.3 | Average Speed: 14.8 mph | Average Heart Rate: 138 bpm | Total Climb: 6600 ft
10/23 - back at St. Matt's to lead a roadside cleanup (sadly, I drove)
10/30 - Snow! The first cancellation of an EBP ride due to weather. I had planned to go to St. James Keene.
11/7 - EBP stop #19: St. James Keene
Similar to my trip to Sanbornville, Keene was a substantial one day ride and promised to have lots of hills. It did not disappoint. The interesting thing is that rather than lots of shorter ups and downs like going across to Sanbornville or up through the lakes region, this ride had a couple of very long ups, each followed by a nice long downhill run. It was 21 degrees (F) when I left my house at 6 AM. This is cold. I was expecting about 30 degrees, and I threw on an extra layer on top at the last minute and was glad I did. Still, I was pretty chilled for the first few hours, as I urged the temperature readout on my bike speedometer upward. Magically, about 2 hours in, it jumped up into the mid 30's and all of a sudden I was warm. Sunshine works many wonders. The climbs up and over the Temple Mountain pass and up through Dublin were long and arduous, but I really enjoyed the long downhills into Peterborough and Keene respectively. It was a rewarding 4 hours on the bike, and I walked into the church just as the first chord of the processional was sounding on the organ.
The people of Keene were very welcoming. The Rev. Mark Jenkins performed 3 baptisms that day; All Saints Sunday is a big day for baptisms. The church is active in the community, and we talked about that at coffee hour. It seemed like a nice vibrant congregation, with people of all ages. One cool thing was a jazz band that was practicing after the service. They had about 8 or ten people playing a variety of woodwinds, brass, and percussion; it sounded pretty good. I guess they have a variety of groups that perform in worship regularly in addition to the traditional choir accompanied by the organ. Mark told me they even managed to work some Miles Davis in once. After getting a number of new signatures for my shirt, I hit the road again. I took a different route home, through Hancock, Francestown, and New Boston, a beautiful tour of small town New Hampshire. It was no less hilly than the ride out, but enjoyable nonetheless. The Stats | Distance: 116 miles | Avg Speed: 14.6 mph | Avg Heart Rate: 143 bpm | Total Climb: 6900 ft
11/13 - Sunday off - at a meeting for my work in Palm Springs, CA
11/20 - EBP stop #20: Trinity Church, Hampton
This was a special visit, because the rector at Trinity is Kathleen Cullen, who hails from Goffstown, and who started her path to the priesthood at St. Matthew's. I was on her aspirancy committee, and got to know her through that process. She was ordained several years ago, and has been searching for a congregation since then. About 4 weeeks ago she started an interesting new call to two parishes in the seacoast area that have agreed to share a clergy person: Trinity, Hampton and Christ Church, Portsmouth. This poses some unique challenges, like the need to be in two places at once on a Sunday. The two congregations have staggered their service times somewhat, but Kathleen's partner Mary literally has the car warmed up and running waiting in the street outside of Trinity at the end of the 8:45 service to get her up to Portsmouth (about a 20 minute drive) in time for the 10:30 service there.
The ride down and back was pleasant; I have ridden to the seacoast many times, so it was mostly familiar territory. Kathleen gave a great sermon, highlighting the fact that good works don't curry favor with God. Rather our good works are our response to the fact that we already are by definition in God's good graces. I've always been surprised at the number of "church" people who see that point differently. It is fundamental to my spiritual understanding. Anyway, it was great to see Kathleen and Mary and catch up with them briefly before service. I chatted with several folks at coffee hour; there is a strong need to sort out the clergy sharing arrangement. Because she needs to leave for Portsmouth, Kathleen isn't getting time to spend with the Trinity folks after service, and they miss that. But they are early in the engagement, and I'm sure they will work things out in good time.
The stats | Distance: 70.0 miles | Avg Speed: 14.7 mph | Avg Heart Rate: 141 bpm | Total Climb: 4000 ft
11/27 - EBP stop #21: Trinity Church, Tilton
The Sunday after Thanksgiving was a cold damp day. Predicted to be in the high 30's and climbing into the balmy 40's not too long into my ride, I spent the entire time urging the thermometer to move up a notch from 32. Moisture was condensing on my glasses and jacket, driving the cold deep inside and defying any pedal generated heat to warm me. I was very happy to get to Trinity and lean my bike up against a heater in the vestibule and soak in the warmth.
I love how every church I have been to is different. Trinity was wider than most, more square than rectangular in layout, with somewhat low-backed pews with comfortable cushions. It almost seemed more like a theatre than a church. The Rev. Mark Kozielec talked about the Nova series "Fabric of the Cosmos" and how in it time is described as not necessarily the linear sequence of events that we think it is, and then tied that to the rather apocalyptic Gospel for last Sunday talking about the end times. I enjoy hearing about physics in church; it doesn't happen very often. Later Mark and I talked about more practical things at Trinity like some neat community service projects they are working on. By the time I hit the road for the ride back the temperature was in the 40s and climbing. I had a much better ride back, feeling much more energetic from the lack of chill. Not bad for a late November edition of the EBP.
The stats | Distance: 70.1 miles | Avg Speed: 15.6 mph | Avg Heart Rage: 140 bpm | Total Climb: 3800 ft
