11/14/2007

Clergy day away

I spent a thoroughly enjoyable couple of days at the Illinois Conference UCC "Clergy Day Away" for 2007. (If it was two days, shouldn't we change the name to "Clergy retreat"?) The "Two-Day Away" event (enough with the quotes already! And the parentheses too!) was at Pilgrim Park Camp and Conference Center in Princeton, IL.

John Bell -- Church of Scotland minister, hymnwriter and resource person at the Iona Community -- led us in a time where he encouraged us, through music, presence and teaching, to encounter Jesus the person as we experiencing him in scripture.

We encountered Jesus who was a man, who loved to eat, who spent lots of time with and loved women, who used humor and sarcasm, who got angry, and who never endorsed "Christian Family Values." I left this afternoon feeling spiritually refreshed, physically tired and ready for the next few days of training in Cleveland.

I leave for Ready-Set-Grow training tomorrow.

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