on·tol·o·gy 
[on-tol-uh-jee] –noun
| 1. | the branch of metaphysics that studies the nature of existence or being as such. |
| 2. | (loosely) metaphysics. |
on·to·log·i·cal (ŏn’tə-lŏj’ĭ-kəl) adj.
- Of or relating to ontology.
- Of or relating to essence or the nature of being.
- Of or relating to the argument for the existence of God holding that the existence of the concept of God entails the existence of God.
Or, the state of being here (New York, Upstate, central New York, the ‘cuse)
There, now you’ve potentially learned a new word.
This page is an effort to tell you what the shape of ministry is like here, in Syracuse, at an urban church.
Atonement Lutheran Church
- Wednesday night worship, dinner meal & education for youth and adults. (Sunday morning, 8:30 and 10:45 worship too.)
- Get on the bus! This is the night I ride the bus to help pick people up for church and then drop them back home. The associate pastor also picks up people in her mini van. Some drive, some walk.
St. Paul, Fabius
Sort of the “country church” that is part of Atonement. A small worshiping community. This small group of folks knows how to sing in this beautiful building with great acoustics.
Onondaga Valley and South Presbyterian Church
I preach here once a month as well as lead a Bible study and attend the women’s meeting once a month. The pastor and secretary are great resources and supportive of this cooperative, ecumenical effort. The congregation is a welcoming, relaxed bunch of folks. They are in the midst of some potential BIG change as their building may be sold and then they embark on their missional life they’ve been working toward for 5 years. 
Summary
Hmmm, how to summarize? We worship in 2 places Sunday mornings, sometimes 3, and have worship twice a week, all year round.
STAFF
I work with 3 other pastors here: the senior pastor, the associate, and a visitation pastor.
Wait.
This does not mean “wealthy, suburban church, swimming in pastors.”
As you can see, it takes a few of us to preach on Sunday and Wednesday. And then there’s the visiting. Don’t forget management of the day care/pre-school and the housing corporation. Did I mention lots of our members live hand-to-mouth? Factor in various moving escapades, picking people up from hospital stays, bringing food bank supplies to homes, and tracking down members who haven’t been seen in a while plus programs for youth, for neighborhood kids, meals, education, youth group, and congregational celebrations. Factor in a bus monitor job, plus all the meetings and teachings, and I guess that comes close to summing it up. It’s a different kind of busy place.
Congregation
About the coolest mix of people:
- people who have been part of this church (or the Lutheran church at large) all of their lives.
- + (plus)
- people who have not been part of the church ever until now, or now-ish.
- + (plus)
- blue collar
- + (plus)
- no collar
- + (plus)
- white collar
- + (plus)
- older-ish
- + (plus)
- young
- = (equals)
THIS CHURCH
Dear Laura,
Ontological questions:
Are we (all of us homo sapiens noodling around the planet Earth), at least in part, what we learn?
And if we are, at least in part, what we learn, does it therefore follow that we are also what we have not learned?
As you already know I am big into life-long learning, applications of life-long learning, and hopefully, before I croak some level of mastery of life-long learning. or to quote the world class cellist, Pablo Casals on his 95th birthday, in response to a question from a young reporter who asked him why at age 95 he still practiced the cello six hours a day, “Because I think I’m making progress.”
Take care,
Ike