I made my first visit to NCS Orlando/The Parks Society last week--my wife Lisa and I were invited down to tell "our story" (must have been an off-week).  Although Orlando was cold and overcast, the Parks Society meeting was warm and bright!

I attended a funeral service today for an NCS brudder, Ed Wheeler. I don’t like funerals, because they remind me that my days are numbered.   I particularly dislike funerals of people who are not really old, because they remind me that my number is unpredictable. Ed was only 55. I am approaching 49. But Ed’s funeral made me think about “showing up”—what we say NCS is about at its core (I thought about it so much that I sent myself an e-mail that said “showing up” just so I wouldn’t forget). It also made me think about what it means to be a “faithful presence”—what the 2010 Retreat is all about.

A key message of this year's Retreat will be how NCS can have a positive impact on our communities when brudders are a "faithful presence" in all area of their lives--part of being a faithful presence is being "present"--showing up.  Brudders from NCS New Canaan, NCS Fairfield and NCS New Haven came together around one of our brudders, Doran Wright, who was launching a church in the inner city of Bridgeport, CT.

NCS New Canaan, NCS Fairfield, NCS Norwalk, NCS New Haven and NCS Hartford joined forces for the First Annual NCS CT Pig Roast on September 19.