Finding True North #12: Bread 'n' Bowl, Farmer's Market, Meetings and Choir

Barbara (my host) offered to make me a sandwich today before I left for work, which I really appreciated but was able to turn down gladly because I had cool lunch plans. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, North hosts Bread 'n' Bowl, a soup kitchen open to the community. Kevin took the Kenya interns and me out to lunch on Tuesday, so today was my first opportunity to check it out. I showed up a few minutes before they opened the doors and was immediately put to work. They serve a meal and let people take bags of soup and bread with them, so for the first little while I was in charge of keeping the desserts and soup bags stocked on the tables. Once the 11:00 rush subsided, I got a plate and sat down with some people. I got to talk to Charles, an older gentleman (he's 89) who was very nice and has been coming to Bread 'n' Bowl for a long time. I also met a few other people, including Mike, who kept telling me how pretty I was, though not in a way in which I felt threatened at all (though there is almost certainly a MUCH longer post coming eventually on that topic (being a pretty woman in ministry)). I found the group really friendly and plan to come to Bread 'n' Bowl as often as I can while I'm here.

I worked on writing the call to worship and prayer for illumination for June 12 and did some other work after that, plus a few extra things like reading about North's architecture and stained glass. I ran some errands and proved that even in a city laid out on a grid, I can get lost. One of my errands involved getting a padfolio. My friend Emily Knight (one of three red-headed Emilys in the Div School) had shown off hers right before I came to Indy, and I decided I needed something to make me feel grownup, especially since I've been bringing my backpack to work. (It worked, by the way.) I also found the youth room in a very successful hunt for a comfy place to lie down and read for an hour before the Farmer's Market, which started up this afternoon. I got there right as it opened, pet a puppy Great Pyrenees, and bought a quart of delicious strawberries (there is approximately 1/2 qt. left).

I ran back to the house briefly to get some food and change, and when I came in the door, Barbara was standing in the hallway looking at my sheepishly. "I'm going to buy you a new pair of shoes," she said in an apologetic tone. "Why is that?" I asked. Apparently Sadie isn't a big chewer but will occasionally get into shoes, and I've been intentionally keeping my doors closed when I'm gone, but today there was a guy here cleaning the windows, and my bedroom door got left open. Barbara discovered one of my shoes in the living room, its wooden heel gnawed on the end. Fortunately, I was already planning to throw that particular pair of shoes away, so it wasn't a big deal. It was just funny to see her apologize for something that wasn't a big deal.

And so back I went to church to the Board of Directors meeting. This was interesting. They went over some finances and checked in on a few issues I'll get to hear more about later (i.e. there are 2 task forces, one on inclusiveness and one dealing with some property the church has acquired, that are having meetings soon to which I am invited), but then we started talking about the new website that is under construction. Apparently a tech task force had been assigned the task of approving the design, but communication wasn't what it should have been (ironically) and now there is the possibility of backtracking on some of the work that the design firm has done. Being moderately interested in web design myself, I had some opinions about the two designs they showed us, but I chose just to listen (I'm patting myself on the back right now, FYI). It was interesting to think about the power dynamics between a governing body of the church and a specifically formed task force, plus to hear a little discussion about the website, the church logo, etc. Again, there will be another meeting in the future devoted to talking about that more fully, and I let them know I'd be interested in attending.

By the time the meeting was over, I was late to choir practice, but I went anyway. I'm singing a solo in church on June 19, and I had not anticipated having to sing it tonight, but they were working on the piece, so...yeah, I was so hoping to impress Mark and Martin with my mellifluous voice and how perfectly it sat in this song, but that is not how it went, ha. But that's OK; it's a beautiful piece, and the choir was enthusiastic about welcoming and encouraging me. Rehearsal was fun, and we sang some good music, including a movement from Mozart's Mass in C Minor. Plus I got to sing along with one of the pieces they'll be offering on June 12 (Pentecost), when I'm preaching, and the text is fabulous; I'll probably be working it into my sermon now.

Side note: pretty much every situation I've been in so far at this church has had an atmosphere of joy and comfort that I just don't always (or even often) find in places, especially when I'm new and nervous. The hospitality and community here is amazing, and I'm so glad to be a part of it.

And now it is 10:00 p.m., and I am home and ready to fall into bed. Tomorrow is technically my day off, though I do have one meeting (but a cool one—more on that tomorrow!), and Barbara and I are meeting her daughter and granddaughter for sushi dinner. I also have plans to take the Monon trail south tomorrow morning (assuming I get up at a decent hour). Hooray Friday.