Sweet Home Alabama

Well, I've been home for over twenty four hours, but my body is still on Pacific time! Hopefully, I'll get accustomed to Central Time again soon.

Seattle was a great experience. In addition to the places I've already shared, we also took a ferry to Bainbridge Island where we ate (of course) and shopped. It is a beautiful little island and I wish we'd had more time there. We also worshipped on Friday night at Temple B'nai Torah where a friend of Jeffrey Ballon's is the rabbi. They had a lovely "contemporary" service. They were celebrating the Sabbath, a Bar Mitzvah and a baby naming.

Our final evening in Seattle we met with the leaders of the Northwest Interfaith Community Organization (NICO). They have a radio program on talk radio about interfaith issues.

Our flight home was uneventful (yeah!) and now I'm simply glad to be home!

The Ultimate Seattle Experience?

What do you think would be the ultimate Seattle experience -- Drinking Starbucks on top of the Space Needle while looking at Mount Rainier? Eating King Salmon on the waterfront? Or listening to indie rock at the Crocodile Cafe? Whichever it is, I've now experienced it!

Last night, we closed the Crocodile Cafe after listening to two really good independent bands: What Made Milwaukee Famous and Aqueduct. And the best thing about music in Seattle is that the clubs are non-smoking! Jim, Alice, Robin and I rocked out until 1 a.m. this morning--which at our age we think is pretty darn cool! The Crocodile Cafe is owned by a member of REM and has a reputation for featuring future famous acts.

This afternoon, we visited the top of the Space Needle. The day was beautiful. I understand you can only see Mount Rainier from here 50 days out of each year and we've been able to see it for two days straight. The spot in this picture that looks somewhat like a triangular shaped cloud is actually the snow top covered peak of Mount Rainier, a volcano located over 50 miles from Seattle. It was beautiful. And yes I had a skinny latte from the Starbucks on top of the Space Needle.

Then tonight, we had dinner on the waterfront and I had wonderful Salmon (thanks to Joe Estes who told me I had to try Salmon on the West Coast)!


When I spoke to Craig today, he wanted to know if we were doing anything theological. And I assure all of you that we are doing something more than eating and listening to good music. Last night, we worshipped with the community at the Church of the Apostles in Fremont. The average age for this congregation is 27! And they are doing some very innovative things in worship and community building. This picture shows their worship space, which for the Easter season is divided into family rooms. They had great music (in fact their worship leader is the one who recommended the Crocodile Cafe to us), icons, candles, Eucharist, and instead of a sermon they had discussions of scripture in the family groups. Then we had dinner with the community and visited with their pastor/abbess, Karen Ward.


This morning, we worshipped with the Interfaith Community Church. They meet in the oldest continually worshipping church in Seattle. The group is a very big mix of just about every faith tradition imaginable. We also had a meal with them and visited for quite some time with them.

Needless to say, I'm very tired and on my way to bed!

Sleepless in Seattle

Thanks to the time change regardless of what time I go to bed, I find myself waking up around 5:30 thinking I have overslept! Now I understand the name of the movie!

We had a long visit with Marcus Borg in Portland. We discussed his concept of an emerging transformational Christianity. This concept has some things in common with emergent Christianity and it differs in a few others. He said he didn't see where he and Brian McLaren differed in thought, but I would guess they differ on issues of Christology and atonement. I took lots of notes and I'm still processing all he shared. Some of it was really good and some of it I disagreed with, but it was all provocative and I need some time to sort through it all. I'll share some after a bit more thought.

After we met with Borg, we loaded the van and headed to Seattle. The countryside between Portland and Seattle reminded me of a flatter West Virginia. We arrived at Seattle around 7, checked into the hotel and found a great Italian restaurant. One thing about this ICE group, we always eat well!
We did not have anything planned for today, so we went sightseeing. We went on the Duck Tour of Seattle. So we got a good overview of Seattle. So far, I haven't seen a blue sky. But someone tells me that the skies seems so blue because you so rarely see them! It has drizzled rain all day, but that hasn't stopped us. We saw the Space Needle, visited the Experience Music Project and the Science Fiction Museum. Then we took the monorail to the other side of town and walked to Pike Place Market where we saw the original Starbucks.

and we saw the famous "throwed fish" at Pike Place Fish Market.

I promise you they really do throw the fish!

The Bluest Skies You've Ever Seen Are in Seattle . . .

Okay--I'm showing my age, but I LOVED Bobby Sherman as a child and one of my favorite TV shows was "Here Comes The Brides". So that shows you how OLD I am (as my kids like to remind me.)

(He was awfully cute! And I'm sure I had this picture on my bedroom wall!!)

But tomorrow I'm heading to Seattle for the first time in my life. Well actually our first stop is Portland where we will meet with Marcus Borg. Then on Thursday we head to Seattle where we plan to meet with some really interesting people and groups. On Saturday, we are worshipping at the Church of the Apostles and meeting with their pastor Karen Ward. We will also worship at the Interfaith Community Church and meet with their leadership as well as with the folks at Monkfish Abbey. It should be really interesting!

Well I'm off to attend the IMS Banquest and then pack!