a week in the life of the chaplain & vicar of isla vista...

“What DO priests do during the week?” It’s a question frequently posed to priests. I suppose that even priests ask it of their colleagues – at least I do. “What do you do in that church of yours during the week?” A priest’s ministry context varies. The rhythm of my life at St. Michael’s -- a campus ministry and mission church set in an unincorporated beachside district, inhabited by both students and low-income Spanish speakers  -- is vastly different from my previous life at St. Mary’s in urban Los Angeles -- a historically Japanese-American church, filled with Japanese and Belizean Americans on Sunday, and Latinos during the week.

So in response to those who are mystified by all that a priest does between Sundays, here is a taste of what I do during the week!

Sunday, March 9th –

7:30am - It’s Daylight Saving Sunday. Spring forward. I hate this Sunday. Service starts at 10am, but it feels like 9am. Still, I’m thankful to be rid of the dreadful 7:30am service obligation of my previous placement. I get up at 7:45am, review my sermon on my computer, grab a bite (banana to eat), dress up in my priest gear and head out the door. I’m running late.

9:30am – Much later than I wanted to arrive to church, but what can I do. Quick – print the sermon (my printer @ home is busted), make sure Altar Guild is on track, turn on the lights, welcome people. I’m so happy that our sacristy is sparkling.  Last week, I spent an afternoon cleaning it out with three other dedicated elders.

10am – Start church on the dot with three clangs of the Isaiah bell.

11:15am - Church is over. Catch up with parishioners over coffee hour.

12pm – Wrap up conversation with parishioners and start some office work that includes editing last year’s Easter bulletin and deciding on a version of the Stations of the Cross this year that highlights the Millennium Development Goals. Around 3pm, I get inspired to clean my office. Find some new icons in my cobwebby, yet to be organized closet to hang of the walls! Move the boxes of files--stretching back 15 years--that have littered my floor for months into the chaotic closet. Do major filing.

3:30pm – Decide to head back home because I’m tired and hungry.

6pm – Take a walk around my neighborhood, since daylight has been extended!

7pm – Work on my tax questionnaire.

9pm – Start in on more work. Write my weekly emails to the congregation, faculty/staff/grad student and student-only listservs to inform about the activities of the coming week. Spend time replying to email correspondence. Start drafting a flier to advertise the bilingual Yoga & Compline program we plan to offer Spring Quarter. Wonder when I/we am/are going to have time to flier the neighborhood – and remember that I still need to create a bilingual Compline booklet by April 1. Create flier for the Progressive Christian Student gathering on Tuesday – come up with the title “Prayer for Dummies: A Crash Course on Prayer & Meditation.” Glad that our Communication Intern will flier the campus tunnels tomorrow. Generate the language for next Sunday’s bulletin and select hymns. Prepare agenda for Bishop’s Advisory Committee Meeting on Tuesday.

11pm – Watch several episodes of House on DVD. I’m warming up to this series.

2am – Finally get to sleep. I’m a night owl.

Monday, March 10th –

9am- Morning prayers from the New Zealand Prayer Book plus some spiritual reading.

11am – Get to work. Consult with the Office Administrator on the projects of the week.

11:45 – Pick up a chicken shawarma sandwich and head to the Antiochian Orthodox Church in Isla Vista for a meeting of area clergy. We talk about the future our campus interfaith center and our growing relationships with administrators at UCSB.

1:30 pm – Return to the office. Review financials for BAC meeting. Call a parishioner whose mother died that morning. More email correspondence. Prep for the on campus Progressive Christian Students meeting. Select helpful materials on prayer for office admin to copy. Talk to a VOX Planned Parenthood member on the phone about a counter demonstration she hopes I can attend later in the week.

3 pm – Visit the parishioner who is dying. Say prayers with her. It’s clear to all of us that she is on the threshold between this life and the next…

4pm – Go home. Manage to get to the gym before the day is over.

8pm – Listen to an episode of Speaking of Faith online. I LOVE this radio show – check it out for yourself: www.speakingoffaith.org!

9pm-10:30pm – Update the campus ministry website and blog from home while watching TV.

Tuesday, March 11th –

10am – Head to work.

10:30am – Conference call with other LA Diocese college chaplains. I’m a big fan of freeconference.com – as it saves me many hours on the 101 freeway!

12pm – To campus for the Progressive Christian Students conversation on prayer and meditation. Am thankful to be facilitating these conversations with a faculty member who will begin preparing for ordination in the fall.

1:15pm – Receive call that my ill parishioner has died -- Can I come to say prayers with the family? Head to family’s home, say prayers, make Wednesday appointment to talk with family about funeral.

2:25pm – 10 minutes late for meeting with downtown SB UCC minister to discuss a collaborative denominational approach to strengthen a progressive Christian presence on campus.

3:10pm – 10 minutes late on conference call with other LA Clergy to debrief recent conference we organized for clergy in financially stressed congregations. I don’t think being late is a good practice…

4pm – Hoped to have taken this time for a quick walk on the beach, but instead I’m preparing materials for my funeral planning meeting tomorrow, putting the finishing touches on an appeal letter to some parishes with resources that must go out this week and outlining my thoughts for a panel discussion in a residential hall this evening. Successfully (I think) hand off the task of Spring newsletter layout to a graphic designer who attends an area Episcopal Church! Register that I still need to do work on the content of the newsletter and organizing of propaganda pictures for the newsletter by the end of the quarter.

6pm – Bishop’s Advisory Committee meeting begins. BAC is made up of students and associates who meet once a month and function as a steering committee of the church and campus ministry. Together we pray. Map out the end of the school year. Discuss financials. Assign “homework tasks.” I’m a believer in homework assignments for all who serve on committees. :)

7:30pm – Meeting ends. A few students stay for College Crew. We cook pasta, talk and say Compline Prayer together.

8:30pm – Begin my trek to campus for the panel discussion.

9:00pm – Conversation with students and panelists on the question “Do you believe we live in Christian privileged society?” I believe we do. I also believe it’s a challenge to claim our Christian roots given the way our capitalist system hijacks our traditions and culture does not value depth. I appreciate our thoughtful interfaith discussion.

11:30pm – Get back to the office. Go home. I’m fried. Praise God to discover that the palms have (finally) arrived on my doorstep for Palm Sunday.

3am – Can’t get to sleep until 3 (did I mention that I despise springing forward?!). Annoyed I never made it to the gym and have fallen off the yoga boat. Ruminating about the lists of things that need to get done in the next month. I have an unusually busy six weeks ahead of me.

Wednesday, March 12th –

10am – Leave the house. Try to connect on my cell with the Office of Women’s Ministries at the Church Center to talk about some Imagine conference business. Forgot that I had agreed to check in with the director at 8am PST. Don’t succeed in getting through to her.

10:45am – Arrive on campus to join with VOX Planned Parenthood students in counter demonstration with Justice For All – an outside pro-life group that displays large pictures of bloodied fetuses on campuses. One student walks by and starts sobbing uncontrollably. She mentions to me that she had abortion and the display is too much to bear. She responds to this violation by railing at the JFA people. A crowd begins to gather as she voices her anger. A group of us pulls her out of that conversation and I walk her to class with another student. She begins to calm down, but is still distraught. I make sure to give her my card in case she later wants to connect with supportive ear. We also tell her that there is help available at Student Health Services. Above head, plane is circulating the UCSB campus with the photo of a bloodied fetus on it…

11:55am – Reluctantly leave the counter demonstration to attend a quarterly on campus gathering of Episcopal faculty, staff and graduate students at the Faculty Club. Today, St. Mike’s parishioner Mark Juergensmeyer is giving a mini presentation on the intersection of his spiritual life and academic work. I’m reminded that Mark and I, despite our age gap, have a bit of a parallel life – we attended the same seminary AND did our field work in the same parish! Learn that one of my seniors has been accepted into her first choice PhD program. Hooray!

1:20pm – Connect with Women’s Ministries Office about our work on promoting Imagine gatherings while walking back to office from campus.

1:30pm – Meet with the family of my parishioner to plan her Celebration of Life service.

2:45pm – Get back to office work. Sketch out funeral service bulletin for our office administrator. Assure musician is available the service. Talk to several people about the logistics of Campus Connection (a new outreach initiative of the campus ministries of UCSB & CSU-CI to bring students to our campuses for an overnight immersion experience) preparation meeting this Saturday in Los Angeles. Proof and sign a set of appeal letters. More email correspondence, including an email to the congregation about parishioner’s funeral arrangements; service will be on Monday of Holy Week!

4pm – A call from a retired clergy friend. He’s in the neighborhood. Can he swing by? Of course…I guide him to the church over the phone.

4:10pm – Turns out my friend has a guest with him – none other than The Rt. Rev. Ann Tottenham --retired Suffragan (Anglican) Bishop of the Diocese of Toronto! I have a picture of her in my office taken ten years ago at Lambeth with the other bishops who are women. We tour the grounds of St. Mike’s together. I’m glad he stopped by with +Ann!

5pm – More prep for Campus Connection. Start to work on my sermon.

7:30pm – Head home.

8:30pm – Gym. Bring a draft my friend’s manuscript Environmental Change-Making with me. Spiritual reading on the elliptical machine! :)

10:30pm – Do some house chores. Water my thirsty plants. Spiritual reading. Pack for LA.

1am – Sleep.

Thursday, March 13th –

9:30am – Walking meditation.

10am – Finish up sermon writing.

11:30am – Gym.

12:45pm – Leave for meetings in LA.

2-5pm – Meet with my clergy support and study group in LA. Our group includes four other women clergy from the Methodist and Episcopal traditions.

5pm – Spend the evening with friends.

Friday, March 14 –

Supposed to be a day off.

9am – Meeting with my tax guy who specializes in clergy taxes over the phone. Thankfully I’m getting a refund.

12pm – Lunch with a priest friend. We end up talking too much about work.

2pm – Meditative beach walk in Santa Monica.

3:30-5pm – Car wash and oil change madness.

5-9:30pm – Spend time with friends.

9:30-11:57pm – Finalize Campus Connection gathering schedule and materials for tomorrow’s meeting. Catch up on email correspondence. Delighted to find an email update from a student who is spending her last semester as a senior in New Zealand!

Saturday, March 15th –

Normally, a day off – note that I will comp it after Easter as I am part of "the new generation," a believer in and stickler for 2 days of rest every week (many clergy to not live by, nor subscribe to this idea of a “weekend off” -- nonsense, I say!).

9am – A visit to the $.99 store for some last minute meeting supplies!

10am – 2pm – Campus Connection meeting with students, clergy and mentors at my previous church, St. Mary’s in Koreatown (Los Angeles). Touch base after meeting with clergy friend about the possibility of going to Haïti (!) for a few days in May to assist with a peacemaking class through the Episcopal Peace Fellowship. I’m very interested!!!

3pm – Head back up to SB.

5:15pm – Arrive home. Eat. Head to the gym. Place finishing touches on Palm Sunday sermon before going to bed -- tonight @ a reasonable hour! It’s not been the most balanced week, but a rich one nonetheless…

Sunday, March 16th –

It’s Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week! Gulp! All glory laud & honor…