Synod School, Day 4

When it rains it pours, and this afternoon ended with glorious drops of baptizing water. Despite being stuck inside, everyone is shining. Mostly from the great fellowship of being together in this connectional church. But we also have brightness coming from the clothes.

Yes, I said the fabric of our lives this week are literally glowing from tie dye! Every day after lunch, during craft time, you can choose to silk screen a t-shirt or fabric item of your choice. Then in the evenings, after worship, you can choose to tie-dye these same items.

The Synod School committee offers a multiude of fun craft and art classes, including: Stained Glass, Introduction to Figure Drawing, Surface design Techniques for Fabulous Fabrics, Beginning Wheat Weaving, Scrapbooking 101, Wade in the Water: A Pre-introduction to Watercolor Painting, Acoustic Music Jam and Song Share, Knitting: the Next Step, and Basket Weaving 101.

This year, a new class being offered is "Kumihimo: A Three-fold Cord and Beyond." Pictured here is KayLynn Coulter and Esther Chol (Des Moines Presbytery) and Amanda Miller (Minnesota Valleys Presbytery, St. Cloud, MN), showing off their Kumihimo projects. This three-fold braid is very durable and can be worn as jewelry or for used as a lanyard for name tags or ids.

There are also opportunities for lay leaders and pastors to further their education and ministry with the following: Newly Ordained Clergy Reunion Seminar, Listening and Healing, Preaching for Commissioned Lay Pastors, Is It Time to Go? Exploring Vocational Transitions, Spirituality 101 & 201, Bible Study for Dummies, Praise and Prayer, Responding to Disaster, Perambulating Presbyterian Polity, Creative Worship, Why We Believe What We Believe, One Nation Under (insert your deity here) Separation of Church and State in American History and Law, Good vs. Evil: Movie Heroes and Villians and Biblical Ethics, Learning to Worship with Children, Transforming Conflict: Dealing with Difficult People in Your Congregation, Pre-Retirement Planning Seminar, Planning Worship as a Team, God at the Box Office, Developing Healthy Congregations, Horizons Bible Study: Joshua, Care for the Caregiver, Intersectionsof Science and Religion, Practicing the Art of Reconciliation, The Darkness and the Light, Creating a De-Stress Toolbox, Learning to Love the Old Testament, Spiritual Conversation: Sharing our Souls, Making Peace with Resource Choices, and Biblical Storytelling. Whew! And that's not all of them.

If your days are't full enough, there are also mini-course's offered in the evening: Form of Government Task Force, What is Spiritual Direction? PW Triennial Gathering Update, Yoga: Vacation Style, Star Trek, Left Behind, Cup Cake Decorating, Greek Dancing (pictured here), Conversations with Sara Lisherness, Improvisation, Happy Birthday John Calvin, AA Meeting, Hair Braiding, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, Board of Pensions Update, What are Web 1.0 and Web 2.0? and a Mission Track including: Marion Medical Mission, Prospect Hill Presbytery and the Living Waters for the World, Missouri River Valley Czech Mission Network, and Des Moines Partnership with El Salvador.

Maybe next year, you'll find time to travel this way and join in the week-long fellowship of Synod School, July 25-30, 2010?

Kim Coulter, director of communications