Preparing

It would be so easy if I could just throw a few things in a suitcase the night before San Antonio and be off. But of course, nothing is that simple. There is much planning--both professionally and personally--for me to be away for an extended amount of time.

I've made the final travel arrangements and confirmed them. Hotel is booked. Shuttle to and from the airport is booked. That is a great load off my mind that I have all that out of the way. By the way, here is the hotel the conference will take place in and where we are all staying. It is the Wyndam St. Anthony. Looks like a really cool place!
http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/SATST/main.wnt



Now I need to get ahead on some web design work for a client so that I can focus exclusively on the NAECED conference without any distraction. I don't want to have to come back to my hotel room at the end of a conference day and have to work on web design if I don't have to.

Rock-A-thon this weekend is a huge planning process and I can say I am finally at the point where I just need to just gather a few more things from home for the event, haul some stuff over from the Tuttle House on Friday, and then the fun begins Saturday night. That will be another huge thing off my mind.


BTW, if you'd like to sponsor one of our teens, there is a sign up sheet on the bulletin board on the LPH. The money we raise goes to The Windsor Food Bank.

We have a great group of SYG this year. The dynamics of the group has changed tremendously due to the large group of seniors who graduated last year and the addition of several 9th graders. But I am enjoying seeing them interact and get to know each other. And what better way to get to know each other than being locked in a church overnight for 12 hours? We will have many team building games, activities, and of course...food. You can't lock me in with 12 teenagers without lots of junk food, for heaven's sake. That's just cruel.

Speaking of food, I want to thank those who were able to provide food based on my last-minute plea. The economy really affected our donations this year from businesses like Target and Walmart and Stop n Shop who usually donate a gift card that allows us to purchase goodies for events like this.

Christian Ed and SYG will be in good hands while I am away. Amy will be keeping an eye on things by herself, so if any issues come up, please seek her out. If I come back and find that the kids have tied her up somewhere, I'll know not to go away again.


After the conference ends on Friday, Feb 6th, I am using the remainder of my miles to fly on to Santa Monica, California (heck, I'm already that far west as it is) to stay with some friends and family whom I am missing very much. While I am there, I will be visiting St. Aidan's Episcopal church in Malibu (oh, to have THEIR budget!). Whenever I am there, this is the church I attend. This time I'll be arranging a meeting with their Christian Ed & Youth Group Directors (you mean there are two separate people that do that job?) to talk about their program. More ideas to bring home! I will be back home very late on Valentine's Day night.

Next entry I'll be posting a few of the workshops I'll be attending during NAECED. If you have a moment, please give me your feedback on those.

Technology and the Church

I had been thinking for quite some time about beginning a blog for Grace Church. More specifically I had been thinking about using it for Children's Christian Education. As I watched other organizations and personal friends jump into the blogging world, I was impressed with how readily you can convey up to the minute information to so many with just a few keystrokes.

So when this opportunity to attend this year's NAECED conference came around, I knew that the time to blog had come. This would be a great opportunity to take everyone with me! A virtual diary, yes, but so much more. I can share photos, video, and even communicate back and forth on the blog with everyone at Grace. How cool is THAT?

What is NAECED and what is this conference?

NAECED is the National Association of Episcopal Christian Education Directors. Pronounced Nay-said. http://www.naeced.org/. They are a gold mine of resources in Christian Education. They offer support, networking, workshops and conferences to Christian Ed Directors around the country. What I love is their email discussion group which is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to what other Episcopal Churches are doing Sunday mornings in their classrooms. Many of the things we have done at Grace with the children over the years, are ideas I've gotten from this list. And I've shared many of the things we do with them.

Every year NAECED members gather someplace in the country for their annual conference. This year it is San Antonio, Texas, hosted by St. Mark's Episcopal Church in San Antonio in the Diocese of West Texas. The conference is February 4-6th.

The conference consists of guest speakers and workshops on a number of different Christian Education issues. One of things I also appreciate about this organization is that they recognize that it can be overwhelming and exhausting to run a program. That is why one of their goals is to encourage Christian Educators to seek out and embrace practices of spiritual reflection, relaxation and renewal.

Christian Education at Grace has been blessed by having the strong backing of our Vestry ever since Amy (waving to Amy) and I took over the program in 2000. So while I knew they would be supportive of me wanting to attend this conference...the reality is our budget is not.

Enter the frequent flier fairy.

Having to use up my frequent flier miles up before April or risk losing them, I offered them up to pay for the airfare to get me out to Texas in February. Father Parachini encouraged me that we could figure out where the rest would come from...and indeed he was right. We determined that using some of the Christian Ed budget and a wee bit from other appropriate budgets...we could do this. Most of my food in included in the registration fee, and thankfully, I don't need a car while I'm there.

So, my great thanks to the Vestry for giving their approval and support for this conference. I am excited to be bringing some new ideas to grow our program at Grace!

And as I said, I will be taking you along on this journey with me. I'll be posting throughout the conference, sharing with you what I'm learning and uploading photos of it all. Please make sure to leave your comments (you don't need to sign-up)and suggestions. I'll be posting what workshops I'll be attending soon, so if you have something you want me to look further into or specific questions you would like me to ask at the conference, please post them here!