I just revised yesterday's post. I was being frustrated yesterday because one link was disappearing when I published the blog. Only when I reread it today did I realize that more than that one link was missing, most of the first paragraph had disappeared. Since I didn't save my first draft I may not have put everything in that I had said yesterday, but I did restore some of it.

Last night we saw the play Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. I laughed myself silly. Luis Alfaro has taken a hilarious look at some heavy subjects such as obesity and family/personal relationships. His dialog is excellent, at one and the same time it sounds like real people talking, and also like poetry. The play, with its all Latino cast of four excellent actors/actresses continues through April 1 at Hartford Stage.

A review in the Courant called the play a work in progress. I would agree with this. This is the first full scale production of the play, and the development director who came out and gave a pre-play talk said that is the course of rehearsals and even the preview performances that Alfaro continued to change lines, even some whole scenes were rewritten.

By the way, I really appreciate that a real person comes out on stage before the performance. This is live theater for crying out loud, it seems totally inappropriate that a disembodied voice does the opening announcements, even if those announcements are only reminders not to take pictures and to turn off your cell phones. Jon Jory, the long time director of Actors Theatre Louisville often did this opening monologue himself, at least on opening night. It is part of getting to know the people who ARE the theater, especially important in a residential theater.

The one disturbing thing was the very last scene, Minnie drifts away higher and higher, out of sight, then there is an explosion – debris like large confetti falls down on the stage and the stage goes dark. Kathleen didn’t like the ending because it wasn’t a neat or happy ending. I thought it was all right to end with the explosion like a giant balloon which Minnie had become by the end of the play. What bothered me was that for the curtain call Minnie (who just exploded) came drifting down from overhead, still of course in her fat suit. I would have liked to have her appear for curtain call either as herself without the fat suit, or at least reduced to the size she was when the play began.

FEELING GOOD - DOING GOOD
These thoughts will be published as my Pastor's Column in the April issue of First Thoughts, the newsletter of First Presbyterian Church. www.firstpreshartford.org

Back in January Jeannette Brown, president of the Center City Churches Board, shared an article from the New York Times Magazine entitled Happiness 101. I just got around to reading it and found it most stimulating. Early in the article a professor teaching a positive psychology class at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA makes the distinction between feeling good and doing good. Doing pleasurable things that make a person feel good does not really lead to lasting happiness, rather it leads to greater appetite for pleasure. After giving students an assignment to do something that gave them pleasure, then they were asked to perform an act of selfless kindness.

In this exercise the students learned the difference between feeling good and doing good. Almost universally they reported that doing good gave them a greater sense of happiness and satisfaction than did the more self centered pleasures. They learned that doing good is good for you.

I think of how much emphasis this congregation puts on getting involved in helping others through supporting the Souper Bowl Sunday and the Walk Against Hunger, volunteering at MANNA Community Meals, the Senior Café, the MANNA Food Pantry and Habitat for Humanity. We just sponsored a Mission Trip to help with hurricane recovery, we support Covenant to Care as well as visiting, encouraging, praying for our own members who are sick or in need. We do all of these things because Jesus calls us to these acts of mercy and human kindness; because our Lord commands us to feed the hungry and house the homeless, but the article suggests that we do benefit our selves from what we do.

My own experience as a volunteer echoes the findings of the George Mason Professor, that doing good benefits the one who volunteers; other involved Church members express the same experience. The girl scout leaders who traveled with us to Mississippi were talking about the real satisfaction that they felt in mentoring these girls from the time they were little and seeing them grow into responsible adults.

People looking at our service from the outside often think of “do gooders” as being dedicated, driven by duty to sacrifice our own pleasure to serve others without understanding the real joy that we feel in service.

If you are not involved in making the world a better place I would invite you, I would challenge you, to get involved, not just because you should but because you can, and because of the great benefit you will derive, as well as the benefit that others will receive from your service.

Sunday Hartford lost a great man, those of us who knew him lost a wonderful friend. John Hunt died on Sunday. John had volunteered at Sanchez elementary school for over 15 years, initially planning to do tutoring one afternoon a week, but ending up so in love with teaching that he was tutoring in the classroom four days a week, mentoring children, providing eye glasses for those who needed them, and promised three dozen students that he would pay for their college education. He has followed these kids through the years as a friend and mentor.

A front page article appeared in today's Hartford Courant and you will find links there to a previous story on John. His obituary also appeared in the paper today.

Also Saturday, March 17, 3:00-4:30 pm
Statewide rally to oppose the war
Old State House (800 Main Street, Hartford)
For details, see http://www.ctcow.org/.

Here is an excellent opportunity to hear an outstanding author and scholar speak about homosexuality and the church. Former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly Jack Rogers will be speaking and signing his book Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality at First Presbyterian Church in New Haven, at 7:30 PM Thursday, March 15. For all the details follow this link.

First Presbyterian Church in Hartford (136 Capitol Ave., Hartford, CT) is in the midst of a study of his book and anyone would be welcome to join in the last sessions of this study. Adult Forum meets at 9:15 AM on Sundays, Remaining sessions are March 18 and 25. Click here for details.

Follow this link for news coverage from the News conference I mentioned on Wednesday.

Yesterday we had a very interesting planning meeting for a Good Friday procession. This is the beginning of our planning. The procession will begin at noon on Good Friday, April 6, 2007 at South Congregational Church at Buckingham and Main Streets in Hartford. This is also the home for the Center City Churches MANNA food pantry; there we will read I THIRST. Our thoughts and prayers will focus on those who lack the basic necessities of life. A second stop will take us to Main and Park, an empty lot in view of two homeless shelters. There as we hear Jesus cry MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME we will focus on those who feel abandoned by God and by society. We will continue with stops at the Charter Oak Cultural Center and Betances Elementary, The Federal Building, City Hall, Central Baptist Church, and return to South Church.

All are welcome, signs and banners, vestments and costumes are all welcome.

Planners include Center City Churches Clergy, along with members of Plowshares Institute, and Episcopal Peace Fellowship.

Our beautiful granddaughter Hannah Marie had her first birthday last month. If you would like to see more pictures you may follow This link

I will be one of a number of clergy speaking at a press converence today in favor of a State Earned Income Tax Credit. This is what I will be saying:

My brothers and sisters, we have gathered here this morning as leaders of this State’s Mosques, Temples, Synagogues, Churches and other religious organizations to demand that our state do justice for the lowest paid working people of our state. We do not come here hat in hand begging the legislature to please throw some crumb to the poor, we come as a body united in demanding justice for the working poor.

One of the most basic and elementary principles of justice is that those who have been advantaged to have enough and more than enough of the material things of this life have a greater responsibility to provide for the common good of the community. In other words the burden of taxation should fall on the middle and upper class, not on the shoulders of the impoverished. Justice for the poor was written into the original fabric of our income tax system so that the more affluent pay a greater percentage of their income in taxation, and the less affluent pay a smaller percentage.

This system had become so riddled with loopholes that often the richest members of our society pay the smallest percentage of their income in income taxes, and without exception the affluent pay less of their income than do the poor for property taxes and sales taxes.

The Federal Earned Income Tax Credit is a basic first step to providing justice for the poor, it provides a tax credit for low income wage earners. It is not a benefit for those who do not work; it is a help to those who work hard to provide for their families, yet still earn low wages.

What we are asking, what we are demanding today is that our state do justice for the poor and enact a State Earned Income Tax Credit. Specifically we are demanding is a simple system that would provide that everyone eligible for the Federal Credit would also receive an additional one quarter of this amount as a State Earned Income Tax Credit. In a state where we are enjoying huge surpluses in the state budget, and where our rainy day fund is filled to overflowing this is not a budget breaker.

We are today calling on our legislators not to do something some day, but to do this one thing in this legislative session. Thank You.

Our Adult Forum for March promises to be a very interesting study of a topic that is a hot button issue in many religious bodies, homosexuality. What does the Bible really teach? Should we ordain Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and transgender persons (LGBT) as officers, as clergy? Should the Church sanction, forbid or encourage same sex marriages?

Adult Forum takes place at 9:15 AM most Sundays from September through May. Each Sunday in March the Adult Forum will be studying Jack Rogers' book “Jesus, the Bible and Homosexuality: Explode the Myth and Heal the Church.” Jack Rogers is Professor Emeritus of Theology at San Francisco Theological Seminary and was moderator of the 213th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). more details Professor Rogers will be lecturing at First Presbyterian Church, New Haven on Thursday, March 15 at 7:30 PM. Lecture details

I have two collections of photos from our mission trip; one is of the group at travel and at work, the other is from the two days we spent in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.
Link to work photos
Link to Mardi Gras Photos

A week late, it is now time to update what happened the last three days of the Mision Trip. I have more pictures to post, and will do this later in the week and put the link in a subsequent entry at this location. Monday, February 19 was the last work day and for our crew it was a busy one. In the morning we went to the home of a client that I had never met and almost finished putting insulation in walls and ceilings. There was still a small portion of the ceiling that was not insulated, but we ran out of material and expected to complete the job after lunch. We also began hanging sheet rock, but made little progress because the drills we had with us were faulty. We were frustrated by the time we were set to leave for lunch, but expected to return with material and tools after lunch.

What happened instead was that several of the groups at the camp were scheduled to leave after lunch and almost everyone was reassigned. Our crew (which this afternoon was all people from First) stayed together wil Jim Bass as crew leader, but we went back to Isa's house where we had worked before. The task for the afternoon was to install cement board on Ida's floors in her sun room and a large hall way, another group at a later time would be installing ceramic tile over this sub floor. The work was very satisfying, particularly because in the course of the afternoon we were able to complete our task. Some sheets could go down intact, but the last pieces had to be cut to fit. We learned to measure very carefully to make these pieces fit, since the house was not exactly square. Keith proved himself quite talented with a skill saw, but the stars of the show were Stacy K and Sue C who had the task of nailing down the cement board with a nail gun. The two of them, the two smallest members of the team, were something else with a nail gun in their hands - BAMB - BAMB - BAMB. Stacy had at least seen her father use a nail gun while helping him remodel their home, but Sue was the most game to use a tool she had never experienced before. [I think both of them came to understand men's facination with power tools.]

I do want to say that we had a most impressive group. Every member of the team was a hard worker, and the teens were the hardest workers of all. There were other groups with teens in the camp with us who spent more time standing around (we saw a few adults with the same problem) than working. Every member of our group that I worked with was working hard, if someone was not busy it was because there were too many people for the job.

We came with different abilities, and many of us learned entirely new skills. Some of us used knowledge we thought we had forgotten; most of us knew our limits and followed the leaders' advice not to exceed our ability. I had to step aside one afternoon when the physical demands of carrying lumber caused me to be short of breath. One person seems to have exceeded his limits.

Sherry who I believe was our oldest team member found his place in the kitchen and his efforts were much appreciated by the cook as well as by all of us who ate at the camp. Those of us who want our coffee soon after rolling out of bed were most appreciative of his early rising to turn on the pots.

We all came to know one another much better for our week together, we learned who was a light sleeper and who was a loud snorer (guilty as charged, and I warned the light sleeper she was in too close proximity. I don't think she believed me, but during the night she picked up her bed and relocated.)

The last day we rose early and moved to New Orleans for Fat Tuesday, the last day of Mardi Gras. Several of us got to watch the Zulu parade, one of the largest and best with over 30 floats, others saw Rex and other of the finest Crewes. We continued to explore the french quarter, are wonderful food, and saw many amazing sights. Most of us were wise enough to get off the streets and into our hotels before things got their wildest in the last few hours before everything ends and lent begins at midnight.

We flew home virtually without incident and arrived at the airport at 3:05 PM, on schedule. We will not talk about who walked all over the third floor of the parking lot at Bradley airport before she found her car. Shirley and I were the only members of the mission trip to return to the Church for Ash Wednesday dinner and service; I probably would not have gone if I wasn't the pastor, and I think Shirley felt obligated since she invited Francis Acquah, our guest preacher.

When will be begin planning the next trip?

I do want to say that we are indebted to the youth of the Church who, along with their leaders, George and Carolyn Blick had worked at Camp Coast Care (http://www.campcoastcare.com/) last summer and challenged the adults to do a mission trip. We also owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to George Blick and other family members who made all the arrangements for travel and housing; all at very reasonable prices. We are thankful to the Presbytery of Southern New England (http://psne.org), the FPC Strawberry Festival, the girl scouts and others who contributed to make it possible for everyone who wanted to go to afford the trip.

Yesterday was a day of rest at Camp Coast Care so every one of the First Presbyterian/South Windsor Girl Scouts headed for New Orleans where Mardi Gras was going in full force. First thing we did was go to Café Du Monde
for coffee and beignets. After much waiting we saw the Okemos parade. We learned that all times are approximate. I lost track of how many floats were in that one, the theme was chilrden's stories and float after float went by (sometimes with large gaps in between). Interspersed were marching bands, high school dance teams, a mounted unit, Shriners and more. I think there were two or three more parades scheduled for Sunday, and of course more on Monday, and the biggest Krewes do their thing on Tuesday.

We all got so many beads thrown from parade floats and from balconies that we were weighted down. Both Carl and I bought Jester's hats, as well as getting Mardi Gras caps for donating to a charity for kids. We started out with Shirley and Carl and I, George and Carolyn and Sue C., and then the Dudley's and I split to do our own thing. We sat in Jackson Square and enjoyed the sun and the craziness, including a demonstration and street theater proclaiming that God was unfair, heard lots of preachers decrying the sins going on on the street (little wonder people have issues with the God they were proclaiming), lots of bands everywhere, some very good.

We had a great meal, I ate Gumbo, Shrimp Po Boy, and heped Carl with his 1/2 pound of boiled shrimp. They has Pecan Pie for desert. I was full at that point. We walked most of the length of Bourbon Street, and found out way back to the car about 10 minutes before we were schedued to leave, and 10 minutes after the other half of our crew got there. We saw many sights along the way, lots of partying, but unlike some other festivals I did not se people passed out or puking in the street. Of course we left at 7 PM, there was still plenty of time for that. (although I remember seeing that in Savanah well before afternoon was over.)

Some of the other groups got separated from one another by the parade and couldn't cross and join up for a while. They arrived after lights out at 10 PM.

Today is a work day, then off to New Orleans for a hotel stay on Fat Tuesday, fly home early on Wednesday.

Yesterday we were one of two crews Willie was supervising. Now Willie is an interesting staff member. He grew up in Pas Christian and knows just about everyone in the community. Appearently the long timers are a tight community with many intermariages. Sedona, the lady whose's house we worked on much of the day, has a relative related to Willie. He first came to Camp Coast Care as a client, then when his house was repaired took a position helping others.

Unfortunately with two crews he was spread thin and we spent a long time waiting to get to the house we were working on, and then the cabnits we supposed to be installing were not ready to be installed. While he went to straighten that our we found our own work, there were doors that needed to be put on their hinges, miniblinds to be hung, and all the door hardware to be installed. George took on the miniblinds, but found it frustrating without a drill for pilot holes to put screws into the metal frames around the windows. He really got rolling on that task after lunch when we returned with the power tools we needed.

I had hung doors (pre hung doors, all that needed to be done was to line up the hinges and force in the pins) and installed hardware, so I got started on that and taught the rest of the crew how to handle that task. When we got finished Willie took several of us back to the first house and we learned a little and did some dry wall hanging and mudding. The girl scouts had been working on that project and made major progress and were really good at the task.

Last night we went to The Shed and listened to music and ate Barbecue at one of the 25 best barbecue restruants int he south. It was falling off the bone tender and tasty. A little more heat in the sauce would have been alright with me, but I am not complaining. Corrigan and I split a whole rack of Baby Back Ribs and a pint of slaw and were filled. Carl had a slab to himself and ate most of it.

They gave a shout out to all the volunteers who had come to help out Mississippi rebuild. The owners wife came and talked to us for a long time and again expressed appreciation, said Misissippi would be no better now than it was a year ago if it was not for the volunteers. It dows feel good to hear that kind of appreciation and realize what we are doing makes a difference in people's lives. She also talked about how many tons of meat they now sell every week, when they really did start a few years ago as a tiny take out shed.

Yesterday our crew worked on Ida's house. Sue and Sarah Labins and I, along with three women from Arlington, Va were a painting crew, between us we painted one small room with two coats of blue, and another larger room that was painted yesterday with a first coat got a second coat. Meanwhile Keith and Jim, our crew leader, were taking out windows and installing new windows.

Ida lives in a home that her father built, and Jim says he built it well, that is why it survived the flood. She was born in the house when it was smaller, as the family grew to five children her father added on to the house. Her father was bed ridden during Katrina and died last December 17. She said the house was all decorated for Christmas, but it wasn't a very happy time as the family gathered from all over for his funeral.

They were in the house when Katrina came, they were high enough that the flood waters stopped a few inches below the first floor, but the tin roof blew off and the water poured in through the ceiling.

She did inherit some money when her father died and invested in a down payment on an 18 wheeler she has out on the road making her money. She doesn't drive, but has a family member who is her driver. She is quite an entrepreneur!

Keith and Holly and I led worship last night. On Thursday when it was mostly us Presbyterians we did Compline from the Episcopal Prayer book, not the camp is full of Episcopalians we had more of a free church service.

I think they are calling for morning meeting so I need to go.

Camp Coast Care, Long Beach, MS
Yesterday a crew of 11 of us from Hartford spent the morning doing finishing painting on Bernadet's house in Pas Christian which was totally flooded by Katrina. She and her children are living in a FEMA trailer on her property (I think there are 3 of them in 200 square feet.) Everything has been taken out of her home, walls, wiring, insulation, everything, including most of her personal belongings, totally ruined by the flood, mud and mold. After the house was down to the studs it was pressure washed, trated for mold, and then wiring, insulation, siding and dry wall goes back in. Finally done the house is being painted, baseboards and moulding are being put in (some of our people helped with that). She should be in the house soon. We met her very briefly.

Most of the group returned in the afternoon. Sue from P-town and I finished the bedroom we were painting (two coats) and were taken to a new home job site. This house will be 8 feet off the ground, the 8X8s had been set in cement. Willie took down the 2X4s that steadied the beams while the concrete set, and sue and I pulled out nails so the lumber coule be reused. Betwen us we cleaned 64 boards, she figured 400 construction nails.

Then we were joined by others from our group to unload a truck, carrying siding from the truck to the remains of another house on stilts that has been gutted, cleaned and is ready for construction to begin. A crew will put on the siding, we constructed the scaffolding and moved the siding. By the time that was done we were done for the day.

By the way, Bernadette's house was within a few blocks of the Roberts house in Pas Christian where Robin spent many summers. We were going to see that house and get pictures, but have not got a chance yet.

Another group arrived just as dinner was served last night, and a third group arrived after lights out. They were quiet, some people heard them, I never did. The camp is almost full, only a few of the 75 cots were unoccupied this morning.

If you are reading post your comments (just sign as an anoymous commenter) and keep us in your prayers. Include prayers for warmer weather.

To see photos I took yesterday and today follow this link. Many of them are dark, sorry, it is a new camera. I have adjusted the exposure, hopefully others will be better. I will continue to post new Photos to this Album as often as I can so check back often. I will try to write about today either later tonight or tomorrow morning. We are about to watch a Katrina Video now, and I am rather tired.
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/album?c=revtdavis@sbcglobal.net&aid=576460762389858149&pid=&wtok=DERRdK5VYcv3swCgHESScg--&ts=1171588718&.src=ph

Our mission trip got off to an inauspicious start when winter storm Agatha blew into the Northeast closing airports across the area. American Airlines kept saying our flight was on an on time status so 27 of us got checked in at Bradley Field, all without great hopes of leaving yesterday. Actually we were one of the few (someone said 5) flights that left Bradley. We boarded 1/2 hour late, then sat for another 90 minutes as the Pilot kept explaining the delay. He said that rain was OK, snow was OK, but the ice pellets that had been coming down off and on all day made take off impossible, he was hopeful that the weather would change soon, and finally it did, we got deiced once near the gate and again just before take off, and finally at 6 PM our 4:05 flight got into the air.

We arrived in Chicago just a few minutes before out flight to New Orleans was to leave, but it also was delayed (they said it landed at the same time as we did). We went from one end of the airport to the other (one of the group had to get wheelcahir transportation). They were already boarding, but this was a long line and several of us got McDonalds to take on the plane.

By the time we got our luggage (all of it arrived, suprisingly, they had told us they might leave some to catch up with up to reduce the load on the Hartford - Chicago flight), got into vans, and got to Camp Coast Care it was 1:15 AM this morning. There were only about three others here last night, others will be arriving today and tomorrow. They pushed wake up time until later (usually 6:30 AM and Breakfast is still to come at 8:30). New Orleans is on Central Time.

So we are here, we were all so tired we slept well on our camp cots, and are ready to go to work. Hopefully you will hear more from me tonight or tomorrow.

On Valentines Day 27 members and friends of First Presbyterian Church will take off from Bradley Field to travel to New Orleans and then on to Camp Coast Care (http://www.campcoastcare.com/) located in Long Beach, Mississippi. While staying there we will be engaged in a variety of tasks to help nearby residents recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina nearly a year and a half ago.

I am part of this team, and if possible I will be providing daily updates from this camp, although there is some question about computer availability from this location.

We will be there through February 19, and on the 20th we will leave for New Orleans where we will be staying at a hotel near the French Quarter. The 20th, or course is Fat Tuesday, the last day of Mardi Gras. On Ash Wednesday early in the morning we will leave to return to Hartford, and some of us will be part of Ash Wednesday worship at First Presbyterian Church. (Service and dinner begin at 6:30 PM with a special message from Francis Acquah, a Methodist minister from Ghana.

Check back at this location for as many updates as I am able to post.

Last night’s third annual public meeting of the Greater Hartford Interfaith Coalition for Equity and Justice (Why did we ever give ourselves such an unwieldy name? GHICEJ or even simpler ICEJ is our normal shorthand) was a powerful meeting to advance the cause of justice in the state of Connecticut. There were hundreds of people, perhaps as many as a thousand people, from thirty faith communities including Muslim, Unitarian-Universalist, Friends (Quakers), Jewish, Protestant and Roman Catholic, plus representatives from 20 allied organizations who cosponsored the meeting.

The most powerful thing about the meeting was that we were speaking directly to state legislators who were not only present, but who stood up one after another to pledge their support for the specific issue based goals that the coalition has set for this legislative session. State Senators Eric Coleman and Jonathan Harris pledged their support and leadership in the senate to pass a state Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor in the state. Representative Andy Fleischmann who is co chair of the State Education Committee pledged to support the increases in the availability of free preschool education programs and the increased state funding for local education that the coalition is supporting. Maryann Handley, co chair of the Public Health Committee supported the goal of universal, high quality, affordable, healthcare for everyone in the state. The Immigration Task Force is seeking to grant young people who are state residents but undocumented immigrants with the same rate of tuition as other state residents pay at state Colleges and Universities. Currently the undocumented pay out of state tuition, a rate three times as high as instate tuition. Representative Filipe Reinoso from Bridgeport had a last minute conflict, but a staff member from the state commissioner on Latino affairs spoke on his behalf, pledging to introduce this bill in this session as he has in a previous legislative session.

Senator Don Williams, Jr. President Pro Tempore, Connecticut General Assembly spoke in support of all of the ICEJ initiatives and gave a rousing speech encouraging our emerging powerful justice movement.

We heard powerful and challenging words from ICEJ president, the Rev Jesse White, as well as pastors Ed Horstmann, Josh Pawelek, Damaris Whittaker and Edwin Ayala, and finally from Imam Abdul-Rahmann Muhammad. The evening ended on a high note with the introduction of a new justice song “It’s Time to Wake Up.”

The most disappointing thing about the evening was the total lack of coverage in the local press. The State of the Union address by our pitiful excuse for a president began as the ICEJ meeting was ending, and commandeered a huge number of column inches in the Hartford Courant.

It was particularly gratifying to have a block of 14 people from First Presbyterian Church, Hartford, the largest number ever to attend a single ICEJ event. I am particularly thankful to the following people who attended along with myself (and to any others from our community who attended whom I did not see): Edwin Carty, Carl & Shirley Dudley, Bob & Alice Evans, Sherwood and Kate Anderson, Sherry & Anita Marchant, Lois Maxwell, Dianne Ney, Ray & Flora Perleoni.

The meeting was held in the beautiful and new sanctuary of the House of Restoration on North Main Street. This is the largest Church sanctuary in the city of Hartford in terms of seating capacity (2000) and according to their pastor, Bishop Jeremiah Tores, the oldest Latino Church in the city.

Has it been so long since I have written in this blog? Christmas and time with our family and friends, and then a catch up time, and of course sermons, meetings, a pastor’s column for the newsletter and much more have all seemed more important than writing for an imaginary audience, or does some one read my ramblings? Love to hear from readers if there are any!

The greatest thrill of vacation time (Christmas Day until January 6, the 12 days of Christmas) was being with our 10 month old granddaughter on Christmas Day.

Hannah is an absolute darling, was just beginning to walk a step or two when we were there. Her mother called the day after we left to tell us that she walked all the way down their hall without holding on to anything. If you would like to see more pictures and see for yourself how beautiful she is you can follow the link below.http://new.photos.yahoo.com/album?c=revtdavis@sbcglobal.net&aid=576460762384052456&pid=&wtok=uF71z1StFNPlSvQa.44mNA--&ts=1168530260&.src=ph

We also traveled to North Carolina to spend time with our friends Dennis and Cheryl and were glad to see some of their children and their grandchild who was born the same week as Hannah was along with Kentucky and North Carolina friends and neighbors. We again walked our home site where we will be living in just a little more than two years and walked on the sands of Holden Beach.

I reluctantly went with Kathleen to an outlets mall in Myrtle Beach, but when we got there I ended up buying more clothes for myself than she did.

Arriving back in time to preach and catch up with what is happening at the Church I discovered that in addition to celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day on the 14th we also were having a multicultural dinner. Kathleen contributed 28 barbecued chicken legs and a huge pan of Macaroni and cheese, which all of us enjoyed along with Jamaican meat patties, Scottish Shepherds pie and much more.

The Church is really looking forward to the mission trip to the Mississippi Gulf Coast to work on Hurricane recovery from Katrina. The youth shared their pictures and stories of how much more was still needed when they returned from their summer mission trip. We have 25 members and friends who will be traveling on Valentine’s day to Long Beach, Mississippi. We will spend Mardi Gras in New Orleans and then return to Hartford on Ash Wednesday.

I am going on the trip and the Bishop John Selders will be providing both the music and the message on Sunday, February 18. The Bishop has been with us as a musician before, but this is his first time in the pulpit. I am certain it will be a blessing for everyone; I wish I could be two places at once and be a part of this service to bring to an end the Epiphany season, and to be part of our celebration of Black History Month. Check out Bishop Selders’ biography at www.amistaducc.org/jsbio.htm .