U2 — Probably my last concert ever:

This was probably the best concert I’ll ever go to.  (And that’s not saying much. The next-best concert was Steven Curtis Chapman performing in Ames, IA my senior year of high school. Then it goes to Daniel Bedingfield performing at TCU my first year. Then it goes to Vanilla Ice performing at TCU my second year.)

Yeah; it doesn’t take much for U2 to be the best!   😀

For the Saturday night at Chicago’s Soldier Field, Heidi and I were lucky enough to have Michael and Becca Swartzentruber join us for the concert.  Talk about fun people to break bread (or tortillas) with; to traverse the traffic of a concert on the south side of Chicago with; or even to listen to U2’s latest melodies with.  Heidi and I are lucky.

The concert was awesome.  The stage electronics were state-of-the-art.  Bono, thankfully, did not take up most of the attention — the band stepped out and took some of the crowd’s attention when their songs highlighted their incredible talent.  It was my first and (probably) last U2 concert.

Heidi and I realized, as we joined with the crowd of 65,000 people that we’re not just introverts — we border on being major (or even extreme) introverts.  That afternoon, leading up to the concert, we were wearing ourselves out as we mentally prepared to join the massive crowds.  That many people are exhausting.  The songs were good; and the experience was good — but we were SO tired half-way through the concert.

Installation:

The column of lights made Soldier Field a City of Blinding Lights.  The disco ball on top — with at least 8 spotlights during Moment of Surrender was some of the coolest installation art I’ve ever seen.  The whole stage was an installation (took 2 days to assemble) — but the way the lights not only shaped the band but also shaped the crowd was incredible!  Well done, U2.

Paul Ford’s Installation at Avalon Park Community Church (U.C.C.)

The next day after the U2 concert, Heidi and I joined our friends, Paul Ford and Kirsten Boswell Ford, for Paul’s installation at Avalon Park Community Church.  Even though the service was long (by all participants’ accounts), it was stiill good.  One thing I’ve noticed about many installation services: they seem  like second ordinations.  Why is that?  Why, as Church, are we not able to have unique rituals for installation that don’t copy-and-paste from ordination services?

Paul’s a jumper – no doubt about it.

Chicago Theological Seminary

For most of this past summer I’ve worked on Chicago Theological Seminary‘s new website.  While the site isn’t live yet, it’s supposed to be soon (hopefully, servers willing, it’ll be live this week).  It’s been a fun process and it was a nice gateway for re-learning some of my skills I haven’t used in the past three years.  I’m now accepting that part of my vocation is to do some of my computer programming and use it for ministry.  I’d written it off after my first year of Divinity School (and the summer exploration sponsored by FTE); but it’s back — and I feel whole again.  As I do computer programing and integrate many of my vocational gifts, it seems like less of a stretch than when I was living a schedule hostile to sitting down and focusing.  Maybe I never learned how to successfully be a Divinity School student; but this summer reassured me that I could still learn and that learning’s source didn’t have to be books.

Maybe Installations aren’t just the cool visual effects, the pastoral offices, or the server configurations — maybe they’re all three combined!    -A

Now that it’s September, it feels like summer is over.  (I know, it’s not official yet, but our tomato plants beg to differ!)

So, to catch you up, here’s an overview of my summer:

Ordination

I got ordained!  Audio and the service reflections might be following soon (if I find the time), but it really did feel like a second wedding.  The invitations to send out, the thank-you notes to write (with a couple still in-process), and a whole worship service to plan — it was a wedding!  I lucked out in not having the weekend too-focused on me because my family also celebrated my grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary that Sunday.

Vacation

Heidi and I left the celebrations to join friends around the midwest for some catching-up.  Eight nights in eight different beds; lots of meal fellowship; lots of laughs — a great vacation!

Mel and Heidi playing with Great Pyrenees puppies with sheep in the middle of a rain storm at Mel’s organic farm in Minnetrista, MN.

Heidi with her aunt Ann (I think laughing about Merlin, the family bunny).

A great dinner with Tom and Shuli after an exhausting bike ride.

Shuli’s brother Gabe with a baby guinea hen – one of the ugliest breeds of birds I’ve ever seen (~ prehistoric dinosaur chickens).

Hiking in greater La Crosse, WI with Libby Howe, Heidi and Sage – the super springer spaniel.

Following a dinner with Jonathan, Emily and Sam Seitz before they left for Taiwan as missionaries/educator(s).

General Assembly

This was the second General Assembly for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) where I took photographs for DisciplesWorld magazine.

DisciplesWorld writers/editors/photographer(s) from left: Adam Frieberg (me), Verity Jones, Nathan Wilson, Sherri Emmons, Kevin Phipps, Rebecca Woods, Charlie Cochran, Ted Parks.  Absent: Tanya Tyler, Neil Topliffe.

Short story: I’m no longer a bachelor! Heidi came down to Indianapolis for a brief 18-hour span and I saw my own General-Assembly-existence in a new light.  I’ve been proud that, since 2001, I haven’t paid for a room at General Assembly.  This has been because of generous friends loaning their rooms or houses, as well as my own willingness to sleep on couches and floors.  This Assembly was no different.  Until one night.  Heidi and I had talked about this before I left for Assembly, but I was spending the conference on Beau Underwood’s sister’s living room floor with Beau and Michael Swartzentruber, another friend from DDH.  I had a twin air mattress that I was using throughout the week.  Heidi and I have shared a twin mattress before, quite comfortably.  I thought this would be the same.  Until we got there and Heidi said out loud: “what was I thinking?!  I can’t do this!”  We arrived at the house at 11:30 at night and most of the other people staying at the house weren’t going to return until 2:00am.  I had a major headache and knew I didn’t want the rest of the night to suck – especially since we were leaving for downtown at 6:30am.  So we got in the car.  And turned on the GPS.  And typed in Housing/Lodging.  And found a place called the “Good Dog Hotel.”  We were right beside Butler University and it seemed like a nice, bed-and-breakfast place.  So we drove there.  And turned into the parking lot, and saw that it was, indeed, a hotel for dogs!  All of the tension of that night was lost — Heidi and I couldn’t stop laughing.  I found a Homewood Suites by Hilton and we were golden.  King sized bed, free internet for uploads, and a happy marriage.  Gotta love the adventure!  Thank God we can still laugh about this!

Vacation (Grapevine)

Heidi’s family has a cabin they rent along the Michigan side of Lake Michigan just south of South Haven, MI.  We spent the better part of a week there, enjoying the beach, the rustic cabin, and some great reading.  Seriously — I didn’t realize how jaded UChicago had made me on reading.  I inhaled Ken Follett’s World Without End in three days.  It was incredible to read something for fun!

Jobs

At the end of the school year, before my ordination and before my summer adventures, I applied for a non-profit job that focused on social media, web re-design, church and travel and networking.  I would have loved the job, but lived with the travel.  It would have been a nice mix of creativity, ministry and me!  But at the end of summer, I got an e-mail saying they had selected the candidate they wanted.  It wasn’t my first time being turned down for a merit-based opportunity, nor my first time being turned down for a church job.  While I wish I could have interviewed with the organization, I’m thrilled that some great technology/ministry job positions have opened up since being turned down.

More on that to come … 😉