This picture was taken on my first Sunday preaching at Arena Congregational Church.
December topics:
Dec. 2 Birth of a Radical (John the Baptist)
Dec. 9 Comfort my People
Dec. 16 Call his name Jesus
Dec. 23 Special service with 9 lessons and carols
Dec. 30 Read the Bible.

It's official now

After a delay caused by a lack of quorum, the Arena Congregational Church voted me in as pastor yesterday, November 18. I am grateful to be able to serve God in the church.
It came as a surprise almost 3 months ago, and I have now been preaching there for 7 weeks. I said that I wanted to help the people develop their spiritual gifts and ministries. I said I came without an agenda, and that we would seek God together for direction.
I see my role as helping to articulate that direction, and then to help to mobilize obedience to the direction.
I also said I am dispensable. It would be wonderful if God would send someone along.
In general, people claim that Arena is a difficult field to work in. I don't have great ambitions, but I do expect God to bless us with an increase in sensitivity to the Spirit and also in number.

Change at my age

Arena Congregational Church is scheduled to vote me in as pastor on November 11. It's a very small congregation, but a church that has been around since 1863. I'm looking forward to it.
Preaching for November:
4. Why pray?
11. Why give?
18. Hannah's Thanksgiving.
25. Samuel, Samuel

Somewhat surprising is that almost half the congregation is teens and 20's. I originally thought it would be much older. It gives me some hope that we can initiate some updating of traditional practices.

Back to the blog.

It's a long time since I put up a blog post, but maybe I will start again. I looked through some of the previous stuff, and thought it interesting.
I am preaching on The Prodigal Father at Arena Congregational Church this Sunday. I have all 4 Sundays in October. Next week I will preach on Abel's Sacrifice. It looks like I will be there for a while, and I am trying to put together my November sermons now.

Rosario Argentina

Ingrid and I are on the way to Argentina, with stops in Georgia (where Katrina lives) and Miami (for a couple of days in the Everglades before we leave for Argentina).
A new Bible School is starting in Rosario, and they asked me to come and help, following the advice of Nils Ivan Kastberg in Sweden. (It is Nils Ivan who opened the door to Argentina for me some 23 years ago)
I will be teaching a survey of the Gospels, but actually I will concentrate heavily on Luke.
We will also visit Mendoza. I have been there several times, and we have some close friends.
I plan to keep up on this blog, and I am hoping we get the blog set up that will appear on the Heraldoffaith.org site. It will be called villagepastor.org.
I'm trying to expand my online presence through both facebook and twitter. On facebook I am winstonmb. Twitter is @winstonmb
The picture is from our last trip, when we were in Salta and Jujuy provinces. We stopped and ate at this plac.

In February, 2013 Ingrid and I were in Russia. At the end of the journey I had a wonderful discussion with the Orthodox priest, Andrei. I asked him to pray for me, and he said he would do it. For him, praying was doing a liturgical action. He asked me to pray for him, that he would be saved. I understood what he meant. He was referring to the theosis that is part of the Orthodox teaching--becoming more Godlike.

Advent candles