Friday Nov. 18 Installation Photos from Amarillo - The First Series

These are photos from last Sunday's installation of Stephen as pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Amarillo, Texas. There will be a second post with photos from a real photographer, and then a third with shots of us hanging around having fun in Amarillo (not to say that attending church with Stephen and Betsy isn't fun..)

Beautiful Savior has a colorful sanctuary. It is especially brilliant if you are the pastor and looking out toward the congregation. If you are a member of the congregation facing forward then you will not be quite so distracted during the service.
The left side of the sanctuary includes a series of small stain glass windows which create a beautiful path to the front.
We were delighted that my Dad and Mom joined us for the Amarillo action!
Betsy was beside herself as the installation service commenced.
Stephen had to sit next to Betsy and behave himself during the first part of the service.
Stephen disappeared from sight during the laying on of hands.
Stephen was addressed by the clergy and also by the lay members, represented by Wally and Karen, who came to Knoxville for the ordination.
Having been installed, Stephen went immediately to work, setting the table for communion.
Stephen had already served communion for two services that morning and said the reach way down would take some getting used to. We had many excellent suggestions but I believe moderate back pain may be part of Stephen's job description.
This is the gathered throng of ministers for the installation.They all traveled several hours to get there, except for the gentleman in the suit, who is the Methodist minister from just a few blocks away, who served the congregation for the last month.
Here's the Friedrich family portrait following the installation.
A big reception was held for Stephen and Betsy in the church gymnasium (there's a fancy name for it, which escapes me at the moment). A large cake, both chocolate and white, was served to the masses. There were also little mini-sandwiches with ham and cheese, and at Stephen's request, peanut butter and jelly.
One of the pastors presented Stephen and Betsy with this beautiful cross, created of carpenter's nails and barbed wire.
You know it's an established church if they have their own presentation plates! We were thrilled to be given one of these.
Stephen and Betsy even received T-shirts from the youth group.
The church sits on a relatively large piece of property and includes several buildings connected by walkways.
The church is in the middle of having the flat roofs replaced. Thankful the workers paused on Sunday but were hard at it again on Monday morning.
This gives you an idea of Amarillo culture. It's western and farm/cattle oriented. This is one of just a few billboards in the airport.
I think this guy knew I was really taking his picture, though Nancy put up a good front for me. I wanted to show everyone that folks in Amarillo actually do wear cowboy hats (we saw a lot of black ones) and also have huge belt buckles. This is "normal" there, not causing anyone to point or smirk (except maybe for us!)
This is a view climbing out of Amarillo. We were at an edge of the canyon and you can see the many "fingers" of the tributaries that eroded smaller canyons leading into the main channel.

Stephen's Ordination - Sequence Three

These are pictures taken by Owen Peterson, our most serious photographer at St. John's. Since you've already seen this events, just from different angles, I'll dispense with the detailed captions.The colored blur in the foreground is our "Holy Spirit Kite" which we use for very formal events.




The "laying on of the hands" was quite powerful and emotional for all. It was the first time I have been part of the event, and the first time for St. John's to have the entire gathered congregation participate.

Baking Some Bread

After saying goodbye to Stephen and Betsy we all needed something to do to take our minds off of the departure. I went down to our church to bake some bread for people who live in the neighborhood by the church. One great thing about our church kitchen is we have a warming compartment, which keeps food warm once it has been cooked. It can also be used to "proof" dough, by providing a nice warm temperature and humid air, perfect to make the dough rise. This little girl was at the church helping her grandmother prepare the altar for Sunday. She was fascinated by my loaves of bread that were rising in the big box.Here's the result of my efforts, 12 loaves of French bread.
I wrapped up the loaves and carried them across the street to the home of some of our neighbors.
Our neighbors are folks who had been homeless but are now living in individual apartments in the red brick building in the background. It is called the Minvilla Apartments.
You may be confused...I baked 12 loaves but there are only 4 on the table. It only took a few minutes for all 12 loaves to be claimed by the residents. I bet most of them ate them before dinner that night. There is little better than fresh bread, and this was still warm out of the oven.

Saying Goodbye to Stephen and Betsy

We had to say goodbye to Stephen and Betsy on Saturday morning. Their moving van came the day before and loaded up all their stuff. They loaded the remaining items into their car (Betsy's, as Stephen sold his the day before) and headed west for Amarillo, Texas. Even traveling at the interstate speed of 65 or 70 miles per hour, it will take 18 hours of driving.

This picture was taken on Friday, with just some of their boxes in the background.

More stuff!

Here is the "after" picture taken when all the stuff had been loaded on the truck. Our basement, back again, and empty! Now I can start looking for all the things I stored away in the spring time.

The moving van arrived promptly at 8 in the morning. Note the nice brick mailbox in front of the truck.

This is the goodbye picture of Stephen's white Camry. We bought it for him ten years ago, when he was a junior in high school.

Whoops!What remains of our mailbox after the moving van got "a little too close".
The Reverend Amy Figg stopped by just before they left and brought some of her world famous blueberry muffins. She calls this "comfort food" and Stephen and Betsy needed some comfort, knowing they faced a long drive with Palmer, the cat in the car with them.
Amy led us in prayer and it was another very touching moment. Jacob had just crawled out of bed so he came down to say goodbye wrapped in a blanket.
Stephen reviewed the directions, which was a joke because you head west on Interstate 40 and make no turns until you arrive in Amarillo.
The last addition to the car...Palmer, the cat!
Jacob has grown so much that he pretty much has to bend down low to see anything.
Finally everyone was loaded in and Stephen gave me a big brave smile before backing out of the driveway. At least he didn't have to worry about hitting the mailbox!