Well, it’s been a fine day and a half.

The lay speaking class was excellent. The Rev. De Hennessy was a terrific teacher, and my only regret now is that I didn’t get to know him back when he was stationed in Bedford County. And our class was terrific, including the other three men (David Smith, Brad Demonbreun and Greg Holleran) who made up my small group for some of the activities. My frequent LEAMIS teammate Bob Willems was also among the class. This was, if I’m counting correctly, the sixth time I’ve taken an advanced lay speaking class, and the only one it compares to was the first time, when I had the great Don Ladd as a teacher.

Greg and I were also roommates. We were awakened at 1 a.m. today by the chirping of the smoke detector in our room at DuBose Conference Center. The batteries had run low, and the detector began chirping every 30 seconds to let us know. Greg finally had to go look for a chair to stand on so that he could take down the smoke detector and remove the battery. All of this is a good reminder for you to change the batteries in your smoke detectors this weekend.

After leaving DuBose, I drove to Cumberland Pines. There’s a Mountain T.O.P. Adults In Ministry event going on there this weekend, and since I was going to be on the mountain anyway I made arrangements to stop by for dinner. Bob Willems was also there, with his wife Mary Margaret; I saw all kinds of Mountain T.O.P. friends, including Carolyn Greenwood, Jan Schilling, Ben Neal, Curtis Piper, Andy Piper (When in Nashville, stop by Pied Piper Eatery and order the Monte Cristo. Do not tell your cardiologist.), Reed and Deeda Bradford, and of course Mountain T.O.P. executive director Ed Simmons and his incredible staff.

Deeda encouraged me to stay for sharing and worship, but I don’t like to do that on the last night of a camp event. Any other night of camp, fine, but the communion and fishhook ceremony which end a camp (Friday night for a week-long event, Saturday night for an AIM weekend) are there for the volunteers, not for spectators. Besides, I’d already taken communion at the lay speaker training. I came on home to unpack and unwind.

I have to take an advanced lay speaking class at least every three years in order to remain a certified lay speaker. But the next class in which I participate will be the basic class, which I will teach some time after the first of the year on Wednesday nights at Bell Buckle United Methodist.