Banquet
26/01/24 22:52
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to connect with long standing colleagues. I am grateful to have met some new and inspiring Christian educators. I have been enriched by worship, keynote addresses, celebrations, song, and workshops. I will leave this event with a passion for a new project that I hope to pursue over the next few months. It is an idea that has been bubbling in me for some time, and this event has inspired me to get started. I’m looking forward to the promise of meaningful work that lies ahead.
To get home however, involves a long day today. Through the reality of time zones, I can have breakfast with colleagues and attend a workshop before I have to leave for the airport. My flight into Bellingham arrives at 11:57 pm, which gives me most of a night’s sleep before getting up for church tomorrow. The problem is that I got up at 6 am here. Add in the time zone change and I will have been up for 20 hours by the time I get to the airport and probably 21 before I get to sleep and will only have about 5 hours to sleep before time to get up.
Fortunately, as one who grew up around and in airplanes, it is easy for me to sleep on the airplane and I have a 4 hour flight from St Louis to Seattle and I’ll be able to get in a good nap, so all is well. In addition, I have been energized by the event and will be further energized by the prospect of seeing Susan and getting home.
Over the years I have attended a lot of annual meetings. Most of them have a banquet as part of the meeting. APCE is no exception. Last night’s banquet had been carefully and fully planned with entertainment, awards, food, music, and so much more. (Really, SO much more!)
There was a happy hour before the banquet, which I skipped in favor of an opportunity to explore an area of Union Station that I hadn’t seen. We viewed the grand hall from the second and third levels of the balcony and took a look at the clock tower up close. It was a fun tour and it gave us the opportunity to get a bit of exercise. I haven’t done too bad with exercise on this trip. The hotel has a health club and I have gotten in a half hour on the exercise cycle every day. Several days, I have had time for a Yoga workout as well. In addition, this place is huge and there is a lot of walking involved just getting to and from meetings.
Exercise before dinner turned out to be a good choice. Once we were seated, I remained seated for three hours. After the meal was served, with a very rich dessert, the awards ceremony took at least an hour. There were three persons honored with special awards and each made an acceptance speech. It turned out that all three were Presbyterian ministers, whose definition of brief is the length of a sermon, I guess. And Presbyterians don’t seem to go in for short sermons. Everyone from their families to their childhood Sunday school teachers was thanked. And there were videos on the careers of the honorees. Then there was the celebration of those who had become certified during the past year, complete with speeches by members of the certification committee and investiture with stoles and explanations of the stoles and gifts awarded.
They were just getting started. A half hour dramatic presentation followed and then the musical act took the stage. We were seated a bit close to the speakers for the up tempo and up volume music. I stayed for the first two songs, but couldn’t take sitting any longer. I planned to just go to the back of the room to stand but when I got there, someone opened the door for me, so I slipped out and returned to my room. Whew! It felt like escape, even though I did feel slightly guilty if for no other reason than that the singers and band were really good and they deserved our attention.
On the other hand, at 70, I am aware that I have some limits. Sitting for long periods of time is not my strong point, and I do have a four hour flight tomorrow that involves a lot of sitting.
All said, however, I am glad I came and grateful for this opportunity to be among the ranks of church educators, many of whom, like me, have given a lifetime of service to our vocation. When we were viewing the videos of the honorees last night, I could identify with them. Two of them graduated from seminary the year after I graduated, so we are of similar age. The videos contained heartfelt testimony from those who had loved them and benefitted from their teaching. There were several young clergy who felt their call to the vocation from activities planned and carried out by the honorees. Teaching can sometimes seem like a thankless vocation, but there are moments when you know that the lessons have found home in your students. The videos were very moving for me. Despite my grumbling about the length of the evening, I can see why all of the elements were important to those who planned the event.
Another part of the evening was the announcement of the dates and place for next year’s event. It will be during the end of January and the beginning of February in Nashville, TN. For a second, I thought of entering the dates into my calendar, but I know that it does not make sense for me to attend this event every year. I may not ever attend it again. After all, I am retired, and my term on the national board of the Association of United Church Educators will end in January of 2026. The AUCE board won’t be meeting in person as an entire board with APCE again for several more years.
Bracing myself for a long day filled with gratitude and a few good byes - onward!
To get home however, involves a long day today. Through the reality of time zones, I can have breakfast with colleagues and attend a workshop before I have to leave for the airport. My flight into Bellingham arrives at 11:57 pm, which gives me most of a night’s sleep before getting up for church tomorrow. The problem is that I got up at 6 am here. Add in the time zone change and I will have been up for 20 hours by the time I get to the airport and probably 21 before I get to sleep and will only have about 5 hours to sleep before time to get up.
Fortunately, as one who grew up around and in airplanes, it is easy for me to sleep on the airplane and I have a 4 hour flight from St Louis to Seattle and I’ll be able to get in a good nap, so all is well. In addition, I have been energized by the event and will be further energized by the prospect of seeing Susan and getting home.
Over the years I have attended a lot of annual meetings. Most of them have a banquet as part of the meeting. APCE is no exception. Last night’s banquet had been carefully and fully planned with entertainment, awards, food, music, and so much more. (Really, SO much more!)
There was a happy hour before the banquet, which I skipped in favor of an opportunity to explore an area of Union Station that I hadn’t seen. We viewed the grand hall from the second and third levels of the balcony and took a look at the clock tower up close. It was a fun tour and it gave us the opportunity to get a bit of exercise. I haven’t done too bad with exercise on this trip. The hotel has a health club and I have gotten in a half hour on the exercise cycle every day. Several days, I have had time for a Yoga workout as well. In addition, this place is huge and there is a lot of walking involved just getting to and from meetings.
Exercise before dinner turned out to be a good choice. Once we were seated, I remained seated for three hours. After the meal was served, with a very rich dessert, the awards ceremony took at least an hour. There were three persons honored with special awards and each made an acceptance speech. It turned out that all three were Presbyterian ministers, whose definition of brief is the length of a sermon, I guess. And Presbyterians don’t seem to go in for short sermons. Everyone from their families to their childhood Sunday school teachers was thanked. And there were videos on the careers of the honorees. Then there was the celebration of those who had become certified during the past year, complete with speeches by members of the certification committee and investiture with stoles and explanations of the stoles and gifts awarded.
They were just getting started. A half hour dramatic presentation followed and then the musical act took the stage. We were seated a bit close to the speakers for the up tempo and up volume music. I stayed for the first two songs, but couldn’t take sitting any longer. I planned to just go to the back of the room to stand but when I got there, someone opened the door for me, so I slipped out and returned to my room. Whew! It felt like escape, even though I did feel slightly guilty if for no other reason than that the singers and band were really good and they deserved our attention.
On the other hand, at 70, I am aware that I have some limits. Sitting for long periods of time is not my strong point, and I do have a four hour flight tomorrow that involves a lot of sitting.
All said, however, I am glad I came and grateful for this opportunity to be among the ranks of church educators, many of whom, like me, have given a lifetime of service to our vocation. When we were viewing the videos of the honorees last night, I could identify with them. Two of them graduated from seminary the year after I graduated, so we are of similar age. The videos contained heartfelt testimony from those who had loved them and benefitted from their teaching. There were several young clergy who felt their call to the vocation from activities planned and carried out by the honorees. Teaching can sometimes seem like a thankless vocation, but there are moments when you know that the lessons have found home in your students. The videos were very moving for me. Despite my grumbling about the length of the evening, I can see why all of the elements were important to those who planned the event.
Another part of the evening was the announcement of the dates and place for next year’s event. It will be during the end of January and the beginning of February in Nashville, TN. For a second, I thought of entering the dates into my calendar, but I know that it does not make sense for me to attend this event every year. I may not ever attend it again. After all, I am retired, and my term on the national board of the Association of United Church Educators will end in January of 2026. The AUCE board won’t be meeting in person as an entire board with APCE again for several more years.
Bracing myself for a long day filled with gratitude and a few good byes - onward!
