Date: 2014-01-27
To: Preparing for my Absence, Part 1
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

I am certainly not a pivotal piece in the lives of others, except for my husband and son. For 6-7 months, my son will be pivotal in MY life, and my husband Marty will have to dredge up some survival skills from his bachelor days, but more about that later.        Again, I have no illusions of being irreplaceable. I learned in the Army that I am a replaceable cog in the Green (back when it was green) Machine! But there are a few things that I¢ve taken on or ¢fallen into¢ at church that needed to get passed on, or as Lisa & Steve Andrew said, ¢taught to others because we¢re NOT going back to dry wafers!¢        Things that I ¢fell into¢ revolve around the Altar Guild duties of St. Christopher¢s Federated Episcopal & Lutheran Church, a small community church in a wooded, bucolic setting, about 20 miles northwest of Olympia, Washington, and 5 minutes from where I live. About 2004, I offered my services to the Altar Guild, wanting a more behind-the-scenes ministry. At the time, the Guild consisted of about 6 retired women who usually attended the early Sunday Service. I told them that I was a bit uncomfortable with flower arranging, as mine usually looked like Mortisha Adams did them (that dates me!). My family generally attended the late service since I sang in the choir. The women unofficially agreed that whoever was on duty would set up for the first service, clean up after that service and set up for the later service. All I had to do was clean up after the late service. Everyone was happy: the other women didn¢t have to come back to clean up, and I didn¢t have to do flower arranging! For a few years, all I had to do was clean up after the late service. It was great!        Then the retired women started moving away, getting older, or having more family responsibilities. I was first approached when the woman responsible for ordering supplies fell ill. Yes I could do the ordering. We also went back to just one service, so now I HAD to do flower arranging.        Then, a year or so later, the woman who was the ¢head¢ of the Altar guild needed to back down because of family responsibilities. Our pastor at the time Fr. Peter Van Zanten made weekly announcements in church about this need in the Altar Guild. I approached him and said that I would step in temporarily until he could find someone else. I think he stopped looking! I eventually picked up laundry duty and in 2010, I assumed the treasurer position. I now had a lot of information and became the unofficial go-to person.        In February 2011, the church became a Federated church with the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), and we got a new Lutheran pastor, Pastor Andy Willis. I baked a loaf of bread for him and his wife¢s welcome basket. He asked me to bake a loaf for Communion at his installation, and I¢ve been baking bread for Communion ever since! Lisa, who is on the Altar Guild, is adamant that we are NOT going back to wafers after having fresh bread! ¢You can show us how to bake it and we¢ll do it while you¢re gone!¢        On November 23, 2013, I had a ¢class¢ of 4 women. They brought their mixers, scales, ingredients and enthusiasm! They each made one 10-oz round loaf for Communion and a loaf to take home. I got some glowing reports of the bread they took home to their families! The recipe is easy shmeasy and almost fool-proof (Good Earth Bread). A fifth woman signed on as a Bread Baker, and I put together a 2014 monthly schedule for the bakers.        Well Lisa, there WILL be fresh bread for Communion, while I¢m gone. It is also my hope that we can continue to share that duty. As much I a loved to watch MY bread get taken to the altar, broken and served, it needs to be an experience shared by others. I have since listed other Altar Guild duties and their descriptions, and farmed them out to others on the Altar Guild as well as trained two more members and a possible third one soon (before I leave).        I am not irreplaceable, and I have found that it is uncomfortable in that position when it¢s time to leave. It¢s not good for the individual or the organization to be irreplaceable. Communication and sharing the workload is the key to stability.        Oh, and that flower arranging that I dreaded? I love it! We are blessed with an abundance of ever-greens: sword ferns, salal, evergreen huckleberry, Oregon grape and so much more. The church grounds offers plenty to work with! (See "Photos" for the bread recipe that I use.)~ Marilyn, Mother of: