The first week of the best summer ever, as I am going to refer to it as, is coming to a rapid close. I anticipate this will be a rather long post seeing as how I will be at the airport for another 3 and a half hours or so. Our flights were all spread out by about 4 hours and it was just easier for me to come early with Ben rather than having the wonderful Phoebe drive a non-stop shuttle service to and from Allisonville Christian Church Between our three flights (Chrissy is at 4 pm). Who are Ben and Phoebe you ask? Oh well let me tell you! Not only are there TWO new friends now but I was reunited with an old favorite DOC pal, Miss Chrissy Stonebraker.
Training week was absolutely wonderful--from the beginning down to the very end. I was actually the last intern to arrive so I was greeted at the bottom of the escalator next to baggage claim by three smiley and beautiful faces. One of these faces was Phoebe, our wonderful intern coordinator. Phoebe served as a peace intern a few years ago and is now helping train the next generation of peacemakers in the church. SHE. IS. AMAZING. Incredibly helpful, funny, playful, insightful, wise, all those kinds of adjectives. The next face was a familiar one, Chrissy. Chrissy and I actually met in 2007 at Zippy's (an amazing gourmet hot dog establishment in downtown Funky Town) during General Assembly while it was in Fort Worth. We'd kept in touch and seen each other periodically over the years but I am so excited that I was able to spend more time with her and can't wait to see what amazing things she does over the summer. The next smiling face was Ben, a rather ruggedly handsome one, the lone male wolf of the pack. I had done some mild facebook stalking of Ben before meeting him and decided he had potential to be cool and may meet the qualifications to become a friend. Ben blew me away and is already a very close friend and has exponentially exceeded his potential to be cool. He's pretty much the nicest and most thoughtful guy in the world. And then they were joined by me... and let's face, we already know how fun and wonderful (and humble cough cough) I am!
Alas we were finally together and ready to embark on our journey. The past week has been full of deep conversations, swamping stories, laughing til we cry, sharing puns (you can guess who was the main sharer), talking about our passions for peace, social justice, and radical hospitality....
We did workshops everyday and learned from some of the most insightful and passionate people in the bizz and are so grateful they took the time to meet with us during this week, especially so close to General Assembly. We met people from Church Extension, Global Ministries, Disciples Women, Refugee Ministries, Reconciliation & Anti-Racism Ministries... we also learned about Biblical references of social justice & peace and completed a healthy boundaries course. Needless to say the week was completely jam-packed with knowledge and resources. I thought it was so incredible to see how many different ministries and communities are represented and served through the Disciples Church. I know our denomination is a smaller one, but we are a mighty one indeed. I am so proud to call myself a Disciple and humbled by the church leaders we spent this week getting to know. Did I mention we got to meet with Sharon Watkins? That was probably the best part EVER. She took time to spend the afternoon with us and talk about everything from our plans as interns, to General Assembly, to the strawberry festival... priceless. Naturally we were all pretty starstruck... and as we were leaving downtown and were in the car, we were talking about how awesome she is and how much we love her and then... I SEE HER WALKING DOWN THE STREET! In true Erin Taylor style I scream out, "LOOK! THERE SHE IS!!!!" So naturally, like any other good peace interns, we rolled down the windows and hollered out how much we loved her. She seemed quite excited to see us too :-D Also, I made one heck of a pun to her and she loved it. PUNelope has struck again! Muhahaha!
We did Vespers every night... each person lead one which allowed us to practice our own gifts & talents. God was definitely with us this entire week. I mean, I know God ALWAYS is with us... but dude... God was all up in our kool-aid this week (and in a great way of course). I am so excited for the many gifts each of us will bring to the camps that we'll get to share a week or two with. I am so proud of my fellow interns and am so glad that we were able to spend this week together. I CAN'T WAIT FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND FIRSTERS CAMP!!! It will be a mess of sharing stories and and experiences, growing in faith, friendship, and laughter.
The journey is off to an amazing start. In the mean time, I will enjoy the Indy airport. After seeing Ben off, I was able to locate not only the Starbucks but also the candy store in a timely manner. I am now pleasantly occupied for the next few hours :-D
Next up: DETROIT!
Training week was absolutely wonderful--from the beginning down to the very end. I was actually the last intern to arrive so I was greeted at the bottom of the escalator next to baggage claim by three smiley and beautiful faces. One of these faces was Phoebe, our wonderful intern coordinator. Phoebe served as a peace intern a few years ago and is now helping train the next generation of peacemakers in the church. SHE. IS. AMAZING. Incredibly helpful, funny, playful, insightful, wise, all those kinds of adjectives. The next face was a familiar one, Chrissy. Chrissy and I actually met in 2007 at Zippy's (an amazing gourmet hot dog establishment in downtown Funky Town) during General Assembly while it was in Fort Worth. We'd kept in touch and seen each other periodically over the years but I am so excited that I was able to spend more time with her and can't wait to see what amazing things she does over the summer. The next smiling face was Ben, a rather ruggedly handsome one, the lone male wolf of the pack. I had done some mild facebook stalking of Ben before meeting him and decided he had potential to be cool and may meet the qualifications to become a friend. Ben blew me away and is already a very close friend and has exponentially exceeded his potential to be cool. He's pretty much the nicest and most thoughtful guy in the world. And then they were joined by me... and let's face, we already know how fun and wonderful (and humble cough cough) I am!
Alas we were finally together and ready to embark on our journey. The past week has been full of deep conversations, swamping stories, laughing til we cry, sharing puns (you can guess who was the main sharer), talking about our passions for peace, social justice, and radical hospitality....
We did workshops everyday and learned from some of the most insightful and passionate people in the bizz and are so grateful they took the time to meet with us during this week, especially so close to General Assembly. We met people from Church Extension, Global Ministries, Disciples Women, Refugee Ministries, Reconciliation & Anti-Racism Ministries... we also learned about Biblical references of social justice & peace and completed a healthy boundaries course. Needless to say the week was completely jam-packed with knowledge and resources. I thought it was so incredible to see how many different ministries and communities are represented and served through the Disciples Church. I know our denomination is a smaller one, but we are a mighty one indeed. I am so proud to call myself a Disciple and humbled by the church leaders we spent this week getting to know. Did I mention we got to meet with Sharon Watkins? That was probably the best part EVER. She took time to spend the afternoon with us and talk about everything from our plans as interns, to General Assembly, to the strawberry festival... priceless. Naturally we were all pretty starstruck... and as we were leaving downtown and were in the car, we were talking about how awesome she is and how much we love her and then... I SEE HER WALKING DOWN THE STREET! In true Erin Taylor style I scream out, "LOOK! THERE SHE IS!!!!" So naturally, like any other good peace interns, we rolled down the windows and hollered out how much we loved her. She seemed quite excited to see us too :-D Also, I made one heck of a pun to her and she loved it. PUNelope has struck again! Muhahaha!
We did Vespers every night... each person lead one which allowed us to practice our own gifts & talents. God was definitely with us this entire week. I mean, I know God ALWAYS is with us... but dude... God was all up in our kool-aid this week (and in a great way of course). I am so excited for the many gifts each of us will bring to the camps that we'll get to share a week or two with. I am so proud of my fellow interns and am so glad that we were able to spend this week together. I CAN'T WAIT FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND FIRSTERS CAMP!!! It will be a mess of sharing stories and and experiences, growing in faith, friendship, and laughter.
The journey is off to an amazing start. In the mean time, I will enjoy the Indy airport. After seeing Ben off, I was able to locate not only the Starbucks but also the candy store in a timely manner. I am now pleasantly occupied for the next few hours :-D
Next up: DETROIT!
We're here! We're here!
Monday, June 6th, 2011
Driving into Downtown Indianapolis to begin training at the Disciples Center. How legit is this? Pretty legit if you ask me! Pretty legit indeed!
2011 DPF Interns (L to R): Erin Taylor, Chrissy Stonebraker, Ben Saunders
Thursday, June 9th, 2011
Downtown Indianapolis for our lunch break... we went to the Strawberry Festival & had strawberry shortcake for lunch. Ladies and Gentlemen, the future leaders of the church!
2011 DPF Interns with the General Minister & President of CC(DOC)
Thursday, June 9th, 2011
(L to R): Chrissy Stonebraker, Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins, Erin Taylor, Ben Saunders
We were beside ourselves for getting to hang out with the big kids!
The Adventure Continues!
June 10th, 2011
Packing up to leave Indy-- had to get this pic of the Toms while they go about their summer travels!
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