I'm Back in the Land of the Internet

I just got back from four days at King's Fold Retreat Centre where I was meeting with seven other chaplains in Lutheran sponsored chaplaincies. King's Fold is a great place to spend a few days - the view of the Rockies and the Ghost River is pretty spectacular and the centre itself is really comfy. It was a really fun time spent with colleagues sharing stories and ideas. We also spent a fair bit of time lamenting the cuts to campus ministry, particularly in the Eastern synod. There used to be chaplains at Dalhousie, McGill, Toronto, Western, and Laurier but the Eastern synod of the ELCIC cut the budget for chaplaincy. There is a little money for programming but no chaplains to do the programming. Add to that vacancies in Winnipeg and Vancouver and our numbers have been cut in half. As a result our theme for our sharing was, 'we took a hit,' but the level of commitment these folks have to their ministries is impressive.