Two weeks ago, I attended a reunion unlike any I've ever been to: the first-ever reunion of all the people who have been part of the Dunmore East Amish-Mennonite Church or Comeragh Wilderness Academy in Ireland. I volunteered as a cook at Comeragh Wilderness Academy (called a "camp" back then) from September 2012 to September 2014. I returned twice to attend friends' weddings, both in 2015, I think, but a decade has now passed since I've been in Europe. Last December, an invitation came: … [Read more...] about The Irish Mennonites Reunion at Penn Valley Retreat
Faith
Literature Camp: Writing, Reading, and the Castle Oil Built
Why literature? Why poetry? Why a literature camp in a castle? For years, friends raved about the annual "Lit Camp", and last weekend I attended for the first time. We left at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. I drove, and with me were two sisters from New Holland, Dorcas and Annetta. None of us had ever been to Lit Camp before. The trip to western Pennsylvania took five hours. I hope this is worth it, I thought. The details were sketchy: a mansion in Franklin, PA, lots of great bookish … [Read more...] about Literature Camp: Writing, Reading, and the Castle Oil Built
Winter Happenings
When I was a student in the Little Room at Penn Johns School, our teacher, Miss Birk, would occasionally make us write about what we had done the past weekend and she would then compile our stories into a printed hand-stapled newsletter called "Weekend Happening". This blogpost is a little like that. Just a few stories about how my winter has been going. Mostly I've been extra busy with my new position at work, but I enjoy having some projects going on the side. Creating a Church … [Read more...] about Winter Happenings
A Day in Queens
"It's not a good idea to go up to people and ask, 'Are you homeless?'" It's mid-Saturday morning at the Ministry Training Center (MTC) in Elmhurst, a neighborhood in Queens, NYC. About two dozen Lancastrians have just gotten off the bus in the Big Apple and are getting a crash course in local demographics and street ministry. "There's about ninety thousand people per square mile here in Elmhurst. Most of them are immigrants or the children of immigrants. Many of them don't speak English." … [Read more...] about A Day in Queens
A Brighter Springtime
I remember clearly what I did on Easter 2020: I went biking alone. No church, no family dinner, no socializing. Of course, that's how the season was for most everyone. Stay home and slow the spread. I was fortunate to keep my job, but everything else pretty much halted. For good or for ill, that was spring 2020. So while I have been seriously neglecting Penny Letters in the last few months, it's because of happier days! I took a Saturday job answering phones at a mulch business, church … [Read more...] about A Brighter Springtime