A Look Ahead

As I write to you today, I have two conflicting ideas / emotions. One is, “August, already!”

2025 is simply flying by; an artifact, I think, of my immanent move into senior citizen status. The

other is “Only August!” After 20 years in the Pacific Northwest, Connie and I are no longer

used to the heat and humidity of a St. Louis summer and that, I know, is exacerbated by some of

our medications and medical conditions.

Nevertheless, here we are in August, which means vacation is rapidly approaching. Connie and I

will be gone from August 18 to September 1, with 10 days of that time in Paris. I’ve already

been in that beautiful city twice: once when I was a boy with my parents and once when I was on

Sabbatical leave from Good Shepherd in 2011. Connie has not been before, so she is in charge

of our schedule for the trip. We’ll be seeing museums and churches and eating good food!

Before and after vacation, I’ll be wrapping up my sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount and

“regrouping” with a few weeks of sermons from the Lectionary, primarily from the designated

readings from the Prophets (Isaiah and Jeremiah) along with some of Jesus’ parables. I’m also

considering some more sermons on “Why We Do What We Do,” specifically on the purpose of

music and the Scriptures in our worship. That should get us close to the beginning of Advent.

Jackie Brown will be preaching while Connie and I are in France, as well as on October 5. On

that day, Connie and I will be in Louisville to join in the celebration of 60 years in ministry for

our friend, Rev. Dr. Louie Bailey, as Minister of Music at Crescent Hill Baptist Church. Louie

and his wife, June, were great encouragers to us and to our kids during our two sojourns in

Kentucky. Louie is bringing his ministry there to a close at the end of the year and we want to

help fête him.

We will all hear from a guest preacher on September 21, as the Administrative Council has asked

me to invite Rev. Jasper Rains to speak on “CarePortal,” a program administered by MBCH

Children & Family Ministries in this area. Missions Chair Frances Deaton and I are excited

about the possibility of St. Andrew’s being involved in this ministry to foster families. You’ll

hear all about it from Jasper!

And, as I write, I’ve learned that Connie and I will also be taking a trip in November – to Rome!

Connie is a board member of the American Lipedema Association and was invited to submit an

abstract for a presentation to the Lipedema World Congress. Her abstract has been accepted and

she will be presenting during their international gathering, November 5-8. I’m tagging along and

we’ll take a couple of days to sightsee, since neither of us has been in Italy before. Jackie and I

are working on some special ideas for the Sunday I’m gone.

That’s all for this month. May the Lord bless and keep us all.

Pastor Chris