So my original intention during Field Ed was to blog at least once a week. Well, it has been over a week since I started and I still haven’t blogged, go figure. Anyway, here are my reflections and some high-lights of what I’ve experienced. I’m going to take a note out of the amazing Miss Lindsey Baynham’s blog and number them.
1.Tabernacle UMC
2.Merna (and Luke and Blue)
3.Hope Valley
4.Tea-Time
1.Tabernacle UMC –When I first got my placement email, I once again got on Google and looked up the church. Once again, there was no website. Ahh! Another church that wanted to keep me from discovering it! (I kid, really). However, I soon learned that my good friend Jennifer had worked at the church the previous summer and was uber excited for me to be placed there. In calling my supervisor, Mark, I discovered that he was in the process of earning a Doctorate in Ministry (D.Min) from Wesley Theological in DC and was doing so on their Theology and the Arts track. If you know me (and I’m guess you do since you’re reading this) you know how exciting this was for me. When I interviewed with Field Ed, I told Susan (Pendleton Jones, hence forth to be known as SPJ) that I really felt called to drama ministry and worship arts and would love to be placed in a church (ideally, not realistically) as a sort of drama intern. This of course is not something easy to find in rural North Carolina, but with Mark as my supervisor, I will definitely be doing some worship arts stuff. Mark and I have talked about designing a sort of variety show (if you want to come visit me and star in it, let me know) with different acts and possibly a hymn sing. It’s really great for both of us because it gives me the experience in the field that I’m interested in, and Mark can use it for his doctoral work.
2. Merna –Merna is my host mom for the summer. She’s wonderful and silly. Her “boys” Luke and Blue are adorable and sweet dogs. Luke is a sandy colored fluffy terrier mix, but he is not terrier sized, more like golden retriever size. Blue, who she took in after his original owner, her uncle, died, is a Siberian husky. They are really great companions and are incredibly well-behaved. Until moving here in 2006, Merna had spent the previous 20 some odd years in Tidewater, so we have plenty to talk about. It’s always nice to be able to tell some crazy story about where I went college and actually have someone know where it is (and part of the reason why it was crazy). Although she lives only about two miles north of the church and on the same road, her property is actually in Virginia. That’s right, folks, this Virginia girl has come home for the summer! I was really excited to find that out, and still get excited every day when I cross the border back into Virginia. And even though I have Virginia tags, I don’t get funny looks from people in North Carolina when they pass by me. I guess they just assume I’m a local. Most of the people in this area shop in North Carolina because it’s closer than any larger area in Virginia, so I guess for the most part I’m really still living in North Carolina. So I still feel like a bit of an outsider when I go into Henderson to shop, I wonder if that’s how the West Virginian’s feel when they come to Winchester? Hmm. Anyways, moving on.
3.Hope Valley –Hope Valley is the local elementary school that serves Townsville and this part of Vance County. (I guess the kids who live in this part of VA have to travel through NC back up to VA to go to Mecklenburg County Schools). It is a severely under-funded school. There is no money for an art or music program and there isn’t even a gym. They have a gym teacher, but he can only work with the kids outside, on rainy days he has to lead them on walks through the halls. The church has had a good relationship with the school in the past, and while I don’t know all the details, has done various projects with the school. The most recent one however, was really cool, and I got to witness part of it. This spring, the church did a six-week art class for the two 5th grade classes. Wayne Miller, a wonderfully interesting man that I can’t wait to get to know better, is a painter and he led the kids in the class teaching them painting tactics and drawing skills. Some of these kids had never held a paint brush and others had no idea how colors mixed. Although the class had finished, the school asked for the church to come back during my first week and let the kids paint as a celebration for finishing the EOGs. (the SOL tests of North Carolina). Watching the kids paint was a neat experience, it brought me back to my elementary school days with Ms. Easter (later Adams). I can’t remember everything I did in her class throughout the years, but I always loved it. It’s sad that this was the first opportunity for these kids to really experience art, some of them were really good. On Friday, we held a celebration at the church that the kids, their families, the teachers, and the church were all invited to. We had a meal, and then went into the sanctuary to hear some of the kids speak about the experience. All of the children received certificates for completing the course and their work was on display in the fellowship hall. Afterwards the kids were able to take their art home with them. On mother was overheard saying to her child, “Honey, I knew you were good, but I had no idea you were so talented!” I hope that that child is able to continue to experience art and grow in their creative journey.
4.Tea-Time –This was a fun experience. On Saturday, Merna, myself, and some other ladies of the church were invited to participate in a tea that was hosted by Brenda, Wayne’s wife. At first I was slightly apprehensive, I’ve never been to a tea before, and I know how fancy they can be, so I was a little nervous about how I was supposed to act. Turns out that Brenda’s teas are really more educational experiences. She realizes that most of us don’t know much of anything about tea-time, and it’s something that she really enjoys and knows a lot about. She enjoys sharing her knowledge with others. It was really cool. We went through how tea is processed, how you should properly brew it, what different kinds of food you serve, how to properly serve tea. All the fine details. I was fascinated by it.
So that’s all that comes to mind right now. I plan on being better about this and writing more frequently so these posts won’t be as long, since I’m very good at going into details and such. I’m really excited about what I’m doing in the church so far, and I can’t wait to share more with you! (I’ve already got stuff brewing for the next post!) Blessings!
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