Sabbatical coming to an end

I am writing this entry in the Tampa airport, after a visit with my father and sister. My father's health has declined in the past year and this was a good time for a visit.

I report back to work on Friday at the Cathedral on the first day of diocesan convention -- certainly a busy time for re-entry. My first Sunday back will be November 1st. I will visit St. James', Zion Street this coming Sunday.

Not fully prepared to offer lasting comments on my collective sabbatical time at this point. Only that it has truly been a wonderful time of rest and study and travel and re-connection with family. A real gift: thank you Lilly Endowment. I return with a continued sense of calling to my pastoral work in Hartford and I look forward connecting to the folks at the Cathedral.

I waited 18 years for this time away: it was well worth it!

A Week Among Monks

It was bread that brought me to the pine forests of Louisiana just north of Lake Pontchartrain. I had heard of the ministry Pennies for Bread from another baker/monk in Illinois, Fr. Dominic of PBS cooking show fame, and thought it was the right place to couple a return to New Orleans with my search for the connection between food, recipes, and cooking with the building and healing of community life. But if it was bread that purportedly brought me here, it is the silence that I most needed to feed on.

The bulk of my sabbatical leave has been spent in the company of others: an incredible journey across our country by train with Leslie and the kids in July, a thrilling trip to England with the Cathedral choir to be in residence and sing evensong in the great Ely Cathedral, and even my days sitting with my mother in her nursing home in West Hartford. All good things, but not the emptying quiet found in the company of monks who know a few things or two about silence.

Silence during meals is the most jarring for this visitor. Mealtime in our home is usually registered in decibels. In Benedictine monasteries, meals on days except Sundays are eaten without conversation. A monk is chosen to read aloud to the community.

It is a wonderful to be just a few paces from the abbey church to take in the services of the day: Lauds at 7 a.m., Eucharist at 11:15, Vespers at 5:30 p.m. and Compline at 7:15 p.m. I am a mere participant with no responsibilities to prepare, officiate, be “on” and shake hands at the door. My mind can wander, I can lose my place, I can look up and gaze. The Abbey liturgy is familiar to me as an Episcopalian and its monastic call to hospitality offers me an acceptance into Eucharistic fellowship that is often denied to non-Roman Catholics in parish churches under diocesan oversight. Here I am a pilgrim and a soul looking for some time away and have been warmly welcomed.

Monks are people that still make us marvel at how and why they do what they do. For a community to still be following the Rule of Saint Benedict that dates from the 6th century is a witness that the call of a life of prayer and study in community is timeless. What it is that so many modern people and believers wrestle with:? that they seem to be alone in this world to navigate times of pain, loss and doubt. Our American individualism, our “do it by yourself, up from the book strap” mentality can ring hollow in today’s complex and interconnected world. What a visitor sees and feels in today’s monastery – this Abbey in the rural South – it that the Spirit grows stronger in community. We are never fully alone. We are left alone for a while to work out particular way in this world, confront our demons, and to cultivate what is means to have a personal relationship with our God. But all in the company of fellow pilgrims.

My favorite part of the day is following behind the monks after vespers to dinner. They walk two by two, lead by Abbot Justin, from the church under covered walkways as the bells ring out. Visitors walk behind them. And then there is Compline. At the close of the service the monks walk down the aisle followed by visitors and as thy near the font, the abbot blesses them with water in great waves, reminding them and us of our common baptism.

The font at the entrance of the nave is a magnate for those who enter the church. It acts like one of the great infinity pools that are so popular -- making it feel as it the waters are falling off into nowhere. I have never been called by piety to dip my fingers into the small holy water receptacles affixed to inner doorways of many Roman Catholic and Anglo-Catholic churches. But to see the baptismal font full of water is something different. There it is. Our baptisms. That is what and why one can dip ones fingers in the water and retrace the sign the cross. We were made Christians in these waters. In and through the water we are reminded of our call to community, to worship God and to see Christ in face of humanity. It is a powerful symbol that makes the most sense liturgically and theologically. It just works.

A Wonderful Place

I awoke this morning at 5:30 a.m. to head off to the bakery at St. Joseph's Abbey. Located down the road in another building, I had to find my way in the dark of the early morning (with a star lit sky overhead) and only the smell of bread baking to guide me. I found it! The baking began at 3 a.m., which was a little early for me. The monks and volunteers welcomed me warmly and I saw their production of 700 loaves of bread to be distributed to soup kitchens in the New Orleans area. A wonderful ministry.

Meals are eaten in silence with the monks, with one person assigned to read from a spiritual book. Today's lunch the reading was about the making of the King James' Bible. Funny to be with Roman Catholic Benedictines and listening to tales of the Church of England in the early 1600's.

The silence is wonderful and much needed.

Off to Bake and Pray

Today I depart the gulf coast for Covington, Louisiana for Saint Joseph Abbey, a Benedictine Roman Catholic community. One of their main ministries is their Pennies for Bread bakery, where each Thursday and Monday they bake over 2,000 loaves of bread to be distributed in the New Orleans area. Check out their link at

http://saintjosephabbey.com/guests-nota.html

I am scheduled to help out in the bakery tomorrow and Monday. Let's hope that goes well.

New Orleans

I arrived in New Orleans last night to spend the next two weeks in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. Leslie flew down and met me and will be here until Monday morning. We are guests of the Dean of New Orleans, David Duplantier. It was New Orleans in April, 2008 where I first got the inspiration for this sabbatical: finding the connection between food, cooking and recipes with community: how food continues to bind us together and in times of crisis help us to heal and rebuild. Part of my time here will be spent at St. Joseph's Abbey, working in their bread baking kitchens: more about that later. Anyway, with only four weeks left in my time away, I am trying to get the most out of this wonderful time.

It is risen: the bread

The bread baking has begun in earnest. Last week I began small, with a simple white bread. Then onto rye. This week I bought some whole wheat flower and starting mixing it with bread flour. One of the recipes from Peter Reinhart's Brother Juniper book had me mixing in butter milk and honey. Yesterday I tried struan, a Scottish harvest bread with cooked brown rice, polenta, wheat bran and honey. The result was pretty good, but the rice turned out a little crunchy. I am also experimenting with how long I can leave the dough for its first rise. All in all, I'm enjoying the experience. Today, after my son Will's badgering, I cooked a loaf of banana bread. Again a first. It's cooling in the kitchen.

The challenge of course is not to eat all of the bread that I am so happily making.

The Urgency of Me Learning to Cook

The kids have gone back to school. Leslie is back at her work at the diocese. Our summer of travel is over. Labor Day is approaching. The house is empty and nearly seven more weeks of sabbatical time looms before me. What in the world am I going to do with these days? I have a pile of books that I have chosen to read, and I am dutifully making my way through the list. But, how about cooking? Didn’t I announce that I wanted to learn how to cook?

One of the foundational purposes of my grant application to the Lilly Endowment was for me to “cross the kitchen” and try my hand at cooking. Food and feeding and hospitality are at the center of what we are called to do as Christians. And, having married a former editor at Gourmet magazine and cookbook author, I have sat at the table and admired and tasted my way through 19 years of married life. How would I fare as a cook?

First, I began this week by baking bread. I had never baked bread before. But with the help of the classic “Joy of Cooking” cookbook and others and incredibly helpful “how to” videos on YouTube, I have baked bread the last two days. I have to say: I like it. I have learned to knead the bread and also how to proof yeast and find a warm place in the house for the rising of the bread. A new world has been opened to me. My first two loafs were ordinary white, and I pushed myself and made rye bread yesterday. The kids have gobbled it up and I have to say it’s pretty good. Not bakery quality, but actually pretty good. Clearly this could be a phase that I tire of quickly, but maybe, just maybe, I might continue…

Perhaps inspired by our recent trip to England and their abundance of Indian restaurants, I announced to Leslie that I want to learn how to cook Indian food. I tackled my first dish last night, the recipe for which I found on the web. I attach the link here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Indian-Chicken-Curry-II/Detail.aspx

The chicken curry dish came out really well -- I have to say (and the family agreed) I made some basmati rice to accompany it and also cut up some fresh cilantro to put on top. I doubled the recipe and cut way back on the cayenne powder, as I did not want to overpower the dish for the kids. I also did not use a whole lemon. It is a creamy comfort food type of dish that may just become one of my standards. Next up is lamb rogan josh, a classic recipe from the Kahmir section of India. I always find that I order this dish in restaurants and want to learn how to make it myself. I will also try my hand and baking naan, the Indian bread that is so addictive.

But as I prepared the meal last night, with the house empty and NPR playing on the radio, I actually tried to think about the relaxing quality of cooking. Yes, I had to remind myself to relax and enjoy the cooking experience -- as opposed to just rushing through it and putting something on the table. Clearly, I may not always have a free afternoon to leisurely cut sauté onions and slice chicken into bit size pieces, but on this one day, I did enjoy it. And lo and behold, I learned that I could cook a reasonably complex dish with more than two ingredients and not out of a box.

Today, I baked blueberry muffins from scratch. They’re cooling right now.

Back to Hartford

The Pendleton summer adventures have concluded and we are home in Hartford -- delayed by a day by a cancelled flight. We are happy to be home and quite amazed at what we have seen and done since July 1st. I will post soon some further reflections. Right now: sleep.

Choir Residency Concludes

The Cathedral choir departed from Ely today and fly back to Hartford. Leslie, Will and Lydia and I are remaining in London for four more days to eek out this exceptional summer of travel and adventure. The week was very meaningful for our choir and I hope the people who experienced their singing in this great Cathedral also thought so.

Ely has really an ideal town for our choir to experience for a week.

We are thankful for all those in the Cathedral community who were supportive of this trip.

Pilgrimage to Canterbury

Six of us have broken away from the choir group and spent the last two days in Canterbury, the site of pilgrimages since the 12th century when it was believed that praying at the tomb of St. Thomas Becket brought about healings and miracles. The Cathedral is the Mother Church of the Anglican Communion. Visiting this charming English village reminds one of the ancient practice of pilgrimage. Today the town is flooded with tourists from all over the world, especially Europe. But it has long been thus.

Jake Harney, a verger at the Cathedral in Hartford, got a special treat when I had made plans for him to meet with the vergers of the Cathedral. We both learned some things and will take a few pointers back to Hartford.

Our days have been spent wondering the streets, visiting the Cathedral, reading, eating and even napping. Not a bad stay. Tomorrow back to Ely to join the group.

Choir Tour of Ely, England

44 members of Christ Church Cathedral are touring England this week. Our choir is in residence at Ely Cathedral, near Cambridge. The weather is glorious and the choir had their first Evensong last night. We were honored to sing in the Lady Chapel for the renowned English composer John Rutter, a friend of Kevin Jones, our Canon Precentor.

Home at Last! For a week anyway

Yes, the trip has ended by the journey has only begun. We arrived to Hartford safe and sound on July 31, not sad but content and satisfied and thankful for all that we did and saw as a family. The "trip of a lifetime" was just that. Lush and rainy Connecticut felt like entering a rain forest compared to the dry Southwest and California. We have this week to rest up before our choir and youth held off to England on August 8 to sing in residence at Ely Cathedral -- and one evensong in St. Paul's Cathedral in London. I will take five non-singers to Canterbury for 3 days. Look for blog entries along the way. We'll be gone for two weeks.

Wild Montana: Glacier National Park

Many have told us along the way that we’ve probably saved the best for last. Glacier National Park, in northwest Montana adjacent the Canadian border, does not disappoint. While Grand Canyon and Yosemite were glorious and unique, one also shares the natural beauty with hordes of tourists from around the world. Because of its remoteness, Glacier is more wild and untouched by the masses. It is only open four months of the year because the brutal winter weather.

We have spent three nights at Many Glacier Hotel, built in 1915 by the National Park service. This rambling old beauty sits on a crystal clear lake surrounded by mountains: glaciers and bears can been seen from the restaurant deck. Leslie and I were fortunate to see a female moose swimming in the lake within a few hours of our arrival.

On our big activity day, Leslie and Lydia went on all-day horseback ride to a glacier lake (the flakes from the glaciers turn the water to an otherworld turquoise) and Will and I went on an hike up the Grinnell Glacier. It was by far the biggest hike I have ever walked (I’m not a hiker). It was an eight mile hike there a back and we climbed 1600’ within an hour and a half (a lot of huffing and puffing) by the view was worth it. I’m glad that Will and Lydia have seen these glaciers in their lifetime because they are receding at an alarming rate. Grinnell Glacier has been losing ice since the 1920’s, so the debate continues as how much global warming is accelerating the melting.

July 24th and Heading East

Heading East: The Amtrak Empire Builder.

We head east out of Portland with one week to go on our travels. The Empire Builder departs both from Portland and Seattle, meeting up in the middle of the night in Spokane and joining trains. The trip from Portland moved up the Columbia river gorge and basin for four hours in some of the most spectacular scenery from the window of the train for the entire trip. For hundreds of miles the train skirts the river lined by cliffs, the water often filled in places with wind surfers and sailboats. As the sun sets, I can say that the view exceeds that of the California coast.

The train has been almost problem-free throughout this month. The trains have left on time and have kept to schedule. We were fortunate to have missed a forest fire in northern California that causes the train just two days previously to have been detoured and the passengers shuttled by bus. We saw the embers and fires still burning, which was eerie. When you pay extra for a sleeper car, the meals are included, so we just show up in the dining car and get our meals very quickly. The meals are certainly a step up from airline food (when there was airline food). By in large, the staff and the service on the trains have been very helpful and welcoming – knowing that many passengers are new to long-distance train travel.

Portland, Oregon

Yes, we are almost near the end of this month-long adventure. We departed Napa Valley on Tuesday and drove into San Francisco, where we visited Grace Cathedral and rode a cable car. Of course we had to eat in the famous Chinatown. The culinary highlight of the day for Leslie and us was a pilgrimage to Chez Panisse in Berkley -- the restaurant that gave rise to the organic food craze years back. Of course, the food was exceptional. Yes, we know we are spoiled.

After a sleeper car for the night, Leslie and I awoke to look out at Mt. Shasta -- pretty cool. We found that Will and Lydia were pretty much at home on the train. Yesterday we arrived in Portland, Oregon where we are being hosted by the dean of Trinity Cathedral and his wife, Bill and Kimiko Lupfer, who we've met through the annual Dean's conference. After a jet boat trip up to Oregon City on the Wilmette River, we're settling into the afternoon.

Tomorrow we depart for Glacier National Park, the third the last part on our tour.

Our Week In Wine Country

We are mid-way through our week in Napa Valley, the wine capital of the U.S. It is also a food and dining mecca. Through some of Leslie’s food connections, we met up with a wonderful family who organized the week for us. Our first day included winery tours for Leslie and me, and then a cooking lesson for me, Will and Lydia: the menu included hand-tossed pizza on the grill, rack of lamb, beer can chicken and cream puffs for dessert filled with peaches picked by Will off their trees next to their vineyard. Leslie was free to look on. Part of my hope for this sabbatical is to learn how to cook – so I’m off to a good start. Yesterday we visited the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone here in St. Helena. We got a tour from its founder, a food colleague of Leslie’s.

Will turned 17 yesterday. The boy is growing up. I brought him his favorite, a pupusa, which is a Salvadorian tortilla he came to love from our time living in the D.C. area, bought at the St. Helena farmer’s market. Only in Napa would a farmer’s market include cooking lessons from a chef from the CIA.

The rows upon rows of vineyards are quite stunning and I am finding the Napa Valley quite beautiful. The temperature difference between day and night is 50 degrees – reaching into the low 100’s during the day. The differential moves the sugar up and down through the vine and branches and intensifies the flavor of the cabernet and chardonnay grapes for which the region is known.
Our week here is also a needed resting place for each of us to pause a bit and process this whole experience. We have seen so much already and we’re trying to just allow our minds and bodies time to take it all in.

Yosemite: Big Rocks and Big Trees

Now half way through our cross country adventure, we have found that we are surprised at every turn. We continue to pinch ourselves at this great opportunity to see this country and we offer more than an occasional thank you to Mr. Lilly. We have met people along the way, some of whom ask us what we're doing. Their eyes widen when we tell them that we're traveling around the country as a family for a month by train. They usually tell us that they've always wanted to do the same.

At the Grand Canyon and Yosemite we've seen many visitors from overseas and have heard countless languages spoken. At 17 and 14, Will and Lydia have already done a fair bit of traveling -- more certainly that Leslie or I did when we were their ages -- but my sense is that this trip has sealed their travel bug infection. Both Leslie and I were AFS foreign exchange students (me to New Zealand for a year in 1980 and Leslie for a summer in Austria the same year). I think Lydia is already plotting her exchange student pathway and Will is thinking about an intensive language book camp in Colombia next summer.

Yosemite National Park in California, where we have been for three nights, has been beyond words beautiful. The rock formations rise dramatically from the ground and the valleys are filled with meadows and trees. In mid-July, the famous waterfalls are still flowing. The one iconic view of El Capitan rock formation is almost gaudy it is so beautiful -- perhaps the most stunning natural setting I have ever seen. We walked among the ancient and giant sequoia tress at the southern most corner of the park -- some of them have been alive for over 2,000 years. They are said to have survived loggers in the 1800's when it was found that the trees shattered into many pieces when they were felled. Their weakness became their strength, as the loggers gave up and moved on to other trees.

Usually on family vacations I reach mid-way and begin to announce with great fanfare and sadness that the vacation is half-over. Not this trip. The experience continues to unfold in new ways and has reminded me of an important lesson: embrace the present. Don't look back with sadness about what can not be done again. And be thankful. Always.

Monterey

We leave the beautiful coast of California today as we rent a car to drive to Yosemite National Park for 3 days. The train trip from Los Angeles up the coast was spectacular. We rode next to the ocean up most of the coast, traveling through Simi Valley, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles and getting off in Salinas. Yesterday we took a morning sail through the famous Monterrey aquarium, and end the evening with a visit the 18th green at Pebble Beach. We are finding it hard to leave the coast, but we know more adventures await.

From Coast to Coast

We arrived in downtown Los Angeles a day after the big Michael Jackson memorial service at the nearby Staples Center. Leslie and I walked a couple of blocks to find a place to wash our clothes.

The Amtrak experience has been very positive so far. The sleeper cars on the longer legs have been key.

We met up with college friends of Leslie's yesterday and were treated to dinner at their beach club In Santa Monica. We could see the lights of Malibu as we left. The kids had a great time.

Grand Canyon is Grand

July 7 and we are waking up about 200 yards from the Grand Canyon. Will and Lydia loved the sites yesterday. Got some great pictures at the rim of the California Condors. We depart this afternoon for Flagstaff and another sleeper car train ride. Arrive in L.A. tomorrow at 8 noon. Having a blast seeing this country!

July 4 in Santa Fe, New Mexico

We arrived tonight in Santa Fe, NM after a long train ride that started at 11 pm in Kansas City. Our first night bunking in the sleeper car was an adventure. We awoke to the landscape of western Kansas, which gave way to Colorado and then New Mexico. I found it hard to read a book, and I just wanted to day dream and look out the window. We only have one night in Santa Fe, but the weather is dry right now and cool -- couldn't be better. Off the the Grand Canyon tomorrow.

July 3 Arrived in Kansas City

Friday, July 3

We arrived at almost midnight in Kansas City from Chicago on our first of many legs of our train trip. The trip went well, though we sat for an hour somewhere in Missouri in the dark to pick up an extra dining car.

We kicked off the trip in Chicago with wonderful hospitality from the Rev. Geoffrey Ward, who welcomed us with Chicago deep dish pizza, a performance of Cirque Sanghai, and a wonderful Italian dinner. July 2 we crawled out of town with a visit to Taste of Chicago for Chicago-style hot dogs and some good tacos. My heart bypass surgery is pending.

The kids commented that that had never seen so much open farm land from Chicago to Kansas City. The corn is about 2 feet high.

Today is it raining in K.C., but we'll hang out. Our first sleeper car is tonight. On to Sante Fe!

Itinerary

Pendleton Cross Country Adventure

Wed July 1

Fly from Hartford to Chicago

Thurs July 2

Board train at 3 pm to Kansas City.

Hotel in Kansas City

Fri July 3

All day in Kansas City

Lunch at LC’s BBQ-

Depart by train 11 pm – first SLEEPING CAR

Sat July 4

Arrive in Lamy, NM

Bus Transfer to Santa Fe

Sun July 5

Morning in Santa Fe, Bus to Lamy

Board train from Lamy

Arrive 9:30 pm in Williams, AZ

Stay at Grand Canyon Railway Hotel

Mon July 6

Williams to Grand Canyon by steam train

Stay at Maswik Lodge

Tues July 7

Depart Grand Canyon for Williams

Dinner at Grand Canyon Railway Hotel

Depart 9 pm by train

SLEEPING CAR

Wed July 8

Arrive Los Angeles 8:15 am

Thurs July 9

Add day in L.A.

Fri July 10

Depart L.A. to travel up California West Coast

Arrive Salinas at stay night in Monterey

Sat July 11

10 am Monterey Bay Aquarium- 3 hour marine biology sail

Visit Pebble Beach

Sun July 12

Drive to Yosemite National Park

Mon July 13

Yosemite

Tues July 14

Yosemite

Whitewater Rafting on the Merced River

Wed July15

Leave Yosemite for house in Napa Valley in town

of St. Helena, CA

One week in Napa

Tuesday July 21

Dinner at Chez Panise, Berkley

Depart San Francisco (Emeryville)

SLEEPER CAR

Wed July 22

Arrive Portland, Oregon 3:40 pm

July 23

All day Portland

July 24

Depart Portland all night train ride

July 25

Arrive East Glacier Park, Montana 10 am

July 26

Glacier National Park

July 27

Glacier

July 28

Glacier

July 29

Depart 10 am

ALL DAY in train

SLEEPER CAR

July 30

Arrive Minneapolis 7:05 am

Stay at Mall of America Radisson

July 31

Fly from Minneapolis direct to Hartford

Arrive in Hartford 5 pm

Trip approaching

Our family is fast getting ready for our cross-country trip that will begin July 1.  We fly to Chicago, and then pick up Amtrak for the rest of the month.   We'll be off to Kansas City, Sante Fe, Grand Canyon, L.A., Monterey, Yosemite, Napa, Portland, Montana and ending in Minneapolis.   I will be posting blogs and pictures along the way.   Thank you for your interest.  

November, 2008 From The Grapevine: A Newsletter of the Cathedral

To some it may seem that I only just arrived to Hartford. I am still introduced by some as “the new dean.” But I can attest, and my graying hair and beard can prove, that I have indeed begun my fifth year at the Cathedral. Next year I have vowed to myself, my family and to God to do what I have not done in 18 years of ordained ministry: I will take a sabbatical. I have twice before taken new church positions right before I would have been given time away to rest, study, pray and travel. Not this time.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. “What will make your heart sing?” is the question the Lilly Endowment Inc. asks pastors of congregations all across the country every year. And every year for the past nine years their congregations have responded with proposals including remarkable ideas and plans for the rejuvenation of their pastors. During a typical year, about 125 congregations around the country (outside of Indiana) are given a grant.

In May of 2008 I worked with a small committee of Cathedral members to apply for a grant from the Lilly Endowment’s National Clergy Renewal Program, which seeks to “strengthen Christian congregations by providing opportunities for the pastor to step away briefly from the persistent obligations of daily parish life and to engage in a period of renewal and reflection.” In September I learned the good news that the Cathedral was awarded a grant of $45,000 – the only award this year to a Connecticut congregation of any denomination – towards my sabbatical next year. $30,000 will go towards my travel and study expenses, and $15,000 will be available to the Cathedral to pay for supply clergy and other pastoral assistance while I am away.

The title of the application is “The Urgency of Hospitality” and was inspired by my visit to New Orleans for a Cathedral Deans’ Conference in April of this year. What I learned was that in the weeks and months after the storm, there was a public awareness of the healing role that food, cooking and the sharing of treasured and once-guarded family recipes have played in the grieving, loss, celebration, rebuilding and hope of New Orleans and its proud residents. Among other things, my sabbatical will allow me to “sing a new song” and learn to depart for a time from my normal pastoral duties to explore and learn why and how food is so important to families, congregations and cultures. How does food break down barriers between people? Why is it vital to write down and share the family recipes that have been passed down through the generations? What role does food play in times of crisis and in the aftermath of loss? How does cooking and sharing a meal heal our souls?

I look forward to sharing with you more of my plans for this time away at a forum in May of next year. God willing, I plan to be away from July through October, 2009. And I hope to return refreshed, renewed and excited about our ministry that we share in this place in the years ahead.

Blessings, Mark+

Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford submitted a proposal in May, 2008 to the Lilly Endowment, Inc. Clergy Renewal Program for a grant for an extended leave for the Very Reverend Mark B. Pendleton, Dean, to allow him to take three months away from the daily routine of ministry. The time away will invite spiritual, personal, professional, and physical renewal by allowing Mark three months to rest, read, study, travel and to be more fully present with his wife Leslie and two teenage children, William and Lydia. Mark hopes to learn to cook and explore the importance of food and preserving cherished family recipes – especially in their relationship to community and congregational hospitality and healing. He will spend time at a cooking school in California, learn first hand about the role that food and recipes played in post-Katrina New Orleans, visit a monastery that is known for its bread baking ministry, and while at home, he will study and read the poetry of Wallace Stevens, so that he can be a better informed host to the many visitors who arrive -- often unannounced -- at the Cathedral’s rectory, the one-time home of the fabled Hartford poet.

After the completion of the three month sabbatical, Mark will return to his ministry at the Cathedral refreshed and renewed and with a greater understanding of the place of hospitality within Christian ministry and a stronger vision about how the Cathedral can extend its mission throughout the city of Hartford and the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut.