Our 2-week deacon!

This is Rev. Phil Fackler -- our new transitional deacon (that means, he's a deacon on his way to becoming a priest, rather than a permanent deacon). On the left is Callie, our next deacon (1-2 years away) as well as his wife.

I got to have Phil as my right hand man these past two weeks -- he read the gospel, he led the confession, he set the table, he counted communion wafers!!! he said the dismissal, and he even preached one Sunday. (Callie preached the second Sunday -- and let me tell you, they are both crackerjack preachers.) For two weeks, I got to share worship leadership with a deacon. It was great fun, although I started to feel like a lazybutt -- all I was doing was celebrating the Eucharist, for goodness' sake. And I'll really miss having someone count out wafers for me. I always mess that up, it seems.

Farewell, Phil and Callie! Enjoy the rest of your vacation and have a safe trip back to Berkeley. (Phil is doing an MA, and Callie is looking for a job... and in six months, Phil will be ordained a priest, and SOMEDAY, Callie will get ordained, too.)