So we have a shed of sorts and a water catchment system started, just in time for the rain to stop for a week. We'll wait patiently and work on excavation until it returns to test out our experimental pre-filter. Basically, the simple and scalable pre-filter we have consists of a five gallon bucket with washed gravel (quietly salvaged from a neighbor's driveway run-off into the road) nested into another bucket. The gravel will filter out the large material without clogging up with leaves. After the gravel, the water drains out of the bottom of the first bucket through a series of carefully spaced (for any Phil Hartman: the "Anal Retentive Chef" fans) 1/4" holes. Next, the water will pass through about a 4 inch layer of mason's sand and a silt fabric, then through 3 inches of crushed charcoal and another silt fabric and into the water container. I'd go into the details of this last connection, but it would only interest about 1 in 1000 of you. Considering about 15 people are reading this, that seems a pretty poor return. We found a free source of 55 gal. plastic barrels from a great guy named Doby up in Whitwell. As for the larger cistern, we found IBC totes (275 gal. water containers) for about $30 each here as opposed to $100+ in CO.
On the church front, much to our surprise and those who know our staunch Calvinism, we've continued to enjoy worshiping with the Nazarene church in Jasper. I spoke with Tankersley today about this and he concurred that there is something different down here that draws people together in the bounds of Christian love acros s these ideological lines that we found drawn in such hostility in the past. I'm impressed with the faithful service of the young pastors here. Kevin, the senior pastor, expressed an eager willingness to cooperate in ministry and to share thoughts and resources in sermon/lesson prep. He was exited to sponsor a mountain Bible study and looked forward to participating and co-teaching. This is something I've found to be like pulling teeth within my own denomination, yet here, in an episcopalian government even, I find greater cooperation and support than I ever found from within Reformed Presbyterianism. I've been singing in the choir and Isaac plays guitar with some fine bluegrass musicians that accompany worship. Tomorrow he's being taken to a senior home to play with one of the adult Sunday School teachers who will give him some instruction on the accordion and lead the old folks in songs of praise. All ecumenicism aside, I'm as predestinarian as the day is long, but I'm sure willing to get along with these folks of good will and faith until they say otherwise. Once I've built some trust and can explain that I may be absent, but I am committed and will return, I will go visiting other congregations to see if I can find a similar spirit of cooperation. I'm not sure where that will lead, but the usual suspects among my Calvinist brethren sadly seem out of the running for now. I hope that changes since I believe they can bring a lot to a meeting of the minds as I envision. What I am looking for is pretty simple, but I've found elusive until the Nazarene pastor and the District Superintendent assured me of their help. I just want a group of people who are called to preach and teach who can share ideas, study resources, and discuss the merits and pitfalls of exegesis and interpretation for the good of all congregations and the fortification of our unity as preachers and the beneficiaries of our great Gospel. This might mean a phone call met with an eagerness to look at a text with another, sharing books, reading papers, reviewing notes, sharing in the inter-congregational inter-denominational need for discipline and accountability in personal holiness and doctrinal soundness, and, I would even go so far as to say, sharing in corporate worship for special occasions and even sharing the teaching pulpit with the appropriate caveats about organization and authority. It seems so painfully obvious to me that this is needed, yet it has been so difficult to find. For whatever reasons, I've found a greater appreciation for what I'm talking about here among rural folks than in the city. The same was true in Fairview, MI as it seems to be here in Jasper, TN. My friend Sam Powell stated it well, I think, in his defense of denominationalism: Unity in the faith, but distinct in organization. He insisted that we can be and are united in one Gospel while we reserve the right to maintain organizational autonomy from those who differ. I would take this a step further and suggest, as a rabid Congregationalist, that the Gospel so transcends many of the peculiarities of our larger organizational groups, however precious, that we must seek out and actively develop relationships between congregations which display our unity by mutually edifying across organizational lines. Sacred Harp singing has been one of these occasions for us and I'd love to take it and the spirit of mutuality and respect therein to pastors and teachers in the aforementioned ways. Enjoying the hospitality of the Great American South, Lance
1 Comment
amy
6/21/2012 03:31:38 pm
This helps me to understand the fundamental problems
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LanceLance doesn't like to publish his writing, as he reserves the right to change his mind. =P Archives
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